Lust For Love
by LoveDoctress
Summary: Tezuka Mizuka is Tezuka Kunimitsu's little sister. She started out in Seigaku but was shipped off to America for higher education and now she's back and having to choose between the the two high schools; Hyotei Gakuen or Seigaku. Takeshi Konomi owns Prince of Tennis. In Progress. Warning: Lemons
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of Prince of Tennis. Takeshi Konomi owns it.

The characters are older. They are in high school now so that means

3rd year = 17

2nd year =16

1st year = 15

Chapter 1: The Surprise Visit

'Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei!'  
'Seigaku! Seigaku! Seigaku! Seigaku! Seigaku! Seigaku! Seigaku! Seigaku!'

Mizuka stood on top of the bleachers as she watched the Singles 3 match go on in a duel of Hadokyu between Kabaji Munehiro, a third year from Hyotei, and Kawamura Takashi who was also a third year from Seigaku. Clearly the cheers of Hyotei were louder than Seigaku as they had 200+ team members cheering for their team players. She walked off as the cheers died off as the teams realized the pain the players were putting themselves in.

"Kawamura stop! If you keep continuing this, your arm will..." Cried Ryūzaki sensei, the team coach.  
The match continued for about 5 more minutes from their 40 minute game until Kabaji dropped his racquet, "I can't play..anymore.."  
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." Cheered the Seigaku team as they had thought that they won the game. "Nope, not just him", Sakaki, the team coach of Hyotei, said as Kawamura dropped his racquet too. "That's some dirty play. He knew that Kabaji would copy him and he kept using it at the expense of his own arm too." Said some of the Hyotei players.  
"You idiot!" yelled Ryūzaki sensei as she flicked Kawamura on the forehead. "Oww", Kawamura flinched back in pain. "Good thing your hand isn't broken or else you won't be able to play tennis ever again." Ryūzaki sighed. "I guess we'll have to take them to the hospital just in case. Would Kabaji want to come to the hospital too?"  
"Go Kabaji." Ordered Sakaki sensei. "Thank you." As he stood up and bowed at Ryūzaki. "Well then, I'll be leaving." she said as she left with Kabaji and Kawamura.

The Seigaku players fought for the bench seat as Fuji Shūsuke got ready to play. "Echizen." Everybody froze as Tezuka Kunimitsu, third year captain of the Seigaku team spoke. "What is it, buchou?" Echizen Ryōma peaked at his captain as he was currently under a headlock from Momoshiro Takeshi. "Help me warm up." Ordered Tezuka. "Yes." Replied Echizen. "Yoshhh! Then I'll be bench coach!" Beamed Momoshiro happily. "Che." Echizen walked off behind Tezuka up the bleachers and towards the practice court areas. As they were walking towards the gate, Tezuka's back shot up as he heard a familiar voice. "_Long time no see, nisan._" He turned around to see a slim figure standing there. Wearing a hat that covered over her eyes and a hoodie with the hood up that covered her hair, it was hard to see who she was but he recognized her. "Who are you?" asked Echizen as he looked up at her. He thought it was a guy even though the voice seemed high. "Echizen. Meet me inside the court." Ordered Tezuka. Echizen not caring about the situation obeyed and entered the gates onto the practice court and started preparing.

"When did you get back?" asked Tezuka. "I'm surprised you came here"  
"No hug?" She teased. "I just got back. I came straight here once mom told me you had a serious match today." Mizuka said. "Pretty confident in Fuji huh? You're warming up already. Anyway, there's another thing. I wanted to see which school was better. In a week, I'll be choosing to go to either Seigaku or Hyotei."  
"So you're looking based on how strong the tennis team is?" Tezuka asked with disappointment in his eyes. "Well no..not really..Your match is after this one right? Let me borrow your jersey for a bit." Tezuka eyed his sister curiously but obliged to her request. "Isn't it going to be too warm to wear my jersey over your hoodie?" he questioned. "I'll manage" She smirked as she put it on and walked off as Tezuka went to the practice court to return to Echizen for a warm up. "Who was that? And why did you give him your jersey?" asked Echizen curiously. "Don't ask questions and play." Tezuka replied curtly. "Fine." Echizen replied as he started off with a twist serve. After warming up, they started heading back as the cheers sounded off.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Challenge Accepted

Tezuka looked up from the court as his match was beginning and saw Mizuka standing on the very top watching him with confidence. He looked back at his opponent, Atobe Keigo, as the match began.

Two hours. It had been two hours since she watched the beginning of the match. She watched as her brother hit the tennis ball knowing that it was painful to him but he was hiding it with his straight face. _"Kunimitsu.._." Her heart skipped a beat as Tezuka hit the last shot against the net, settling the score of 7-6. Tezuka had lost. He looked up at the sky with closed eyes and sighed. Opening his eyes, he walked towards the net and shook hands with Atobe. Atobe took Tezuka's hand and raised both his and Tezuka's arm into the air and said "That was the best match...I have ever played." The whole court started cheering. Tezuka glanced at the audience, up at his sister as he saw her stare fiercely at Atobe.

"I-I can't believe it..Tezuka buchou lost..." Sobbed Horiō Satoshi, a first year member.  
"_Because the Seigaku and Hyotei matches ended 2-2 with one no-game, we will now have one more singles match with the substitutes." A_nnounced the referee. "Hiyoshi you're up." Called Coach Sakaki. "Yes" Hiyoshi Wakashi walked down towards the court as Echizen was getting ready to play.

Mizuka watched as the match was starting. "Hey hey!" Mizuka turned around as a group of Hyotei members came close to her. She walked away as they approached her. "Hey don't ignore me you bastard. You mad that your famous captain lost? I guess he isn't so great after all!" They laughed as they taunted her. "I guess the Seigaku team isn't even that strong since their captain got beaten. I bet I can take the team down all in one go" She halted immediately. "Some people have mouths bigger than their talent" She replied. "What did you just say you bastard?" Yelled one of the Hyotei members at her. Even though she was 5'6, she was still looking up at him for he was a bit taller than her. Suddenly, there was a huge cheer just as Echizen finished the match with a Drive-B with the score of 6-2. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! HIYOSHI LOST TO THAT LITTLE BRAT?!" Yelled the Hyotei member in front of Mizuka in rage. The Hyotei members snapped their heads back at Mizuka as she walked off laughing. He ran to her, grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Let's settle this in a match! Right here, right now. In front of everybody." Snarled the Hyotei member. Mizuka startled by the sudden pull, balanced herself, looked up into his eyes and replied "Sure, why not?" Accepting the challenge.

The Hyotei member then ran to Atobe who was still sweating from his match with Tezuka. "Hey buchou! I want to have a match with that guy over there, right now in front of everybody so I can humiliate him!" Demanded the Hyotei member. "Huh" Atobe glanced towards Mizuka's direction. "_What guy?_" Atobe thought "_That's a girl...I think.". _Confused by what Mizuka looked like, he replied "Ask the coach. I'm too tired to deal with this right now."

As the Hyotei member was asking Coach Sakaki, Mizuka walked down towards Tezuka who was icing his shoulder. The Seigaku members stared at her with confused looks as she asked "Hey Kunimitsu, I'm having a match with that Hyotei guy over there" She nodded her head towards the Hyotei member. "And I was hoping if you would allow it?" She pleaded with her big brown eyes. "Pleaseeeeee?" She pouted her lips. Tezuka glanced at the other side and sighed. "Fine."

"Fine." Sighed Coach Sakaki "You would have become a regular if you had stopped skipping practice. Due to your talents, I will allow you to play. But the game will only be one set. Just don't make a fool out of Hyotei." He got up and walked towards the referee as Tezuka did the same to request the match. "YES! Now I have the chance to beat that bastard up!" Howled the Hyotei member as he took a glance at Mizuka as she entered the court still wearing Seigaku's jersey.

As Tezuka walked back to be bench coach, the Seigaku members rushed to him. "H-Hey Tezuka! Are you sure it's alright to let him play against Hyotei?" Asked Oishi Shuichiro with worriedness behind his eyes as he was the vice-captain of Seigaku. "And why is she wearing Seigaku's jersey?"  
"He's going to make a fool out of Seigaku!" yelled Momoshiro and Kaido Kaoru together.  
"Mada mada dane." said Echizen.  
"Probability of him winning against the Hyotei member.9%." Inui Sadaharu said as he observed Mizuka and read from his notebook as he already did research on the Hyotei member. As they were all arguing together, Tezuka sighed and said "Be quiet and watch the match. That is my jersey, I lent it." They silenced all together as they obeyed their captain out of respect.

"Now an unofficial match will begin between Hyotei's Ochi Hiroyuki" Announced the referee "and Seigaku's ..excuse me, what's your name?" he asked Mizuka as she stood there on the court and looked at her brother as he didn't provide the referee with a name. Sighing, she said "Just call me Tezuka." The whole crowd in the audience gasped. "Tezuka?" whispered some of the members of both teams. "Oh. I see. Alright, Seigaku's Tezuka. Hyotei's Ochi one set to serve." Continued the referee.

"Tezuka? Why Tezuka? Captain! Why is he using your name?" Asked Momoshiro. "Because we're related." Replied Tezuka. They all gasped in shock at Tezuka's reply. "HE'S YOUR BROTHER?" The whole team shouted in unison as Ochi threw the ball up as he was about to serve. "If he's related to Tezuka, I highly doubt that he will lose." Momoshiro said in confidence as the others nodded in agreement. "And hey look look! He's also left-handed like Captain Tezuka!" Pointed out Kikumaru Eiji. Tezuka closed his eyes and sighed. "Just watch and see." Ochi slammed down at the serve and it looked powerful as it hit right side on Mizuka's court. "It's Ochi's slammed dunk serve! There's no way he would be able to return it!" Cheered the Hyotei members. Mizuka smiled and returned it swiftly with a backhand that sent the ball back into the other court with a return ace as Ochi stared open-mouthed at the speed of the ball.

"_Tezuka? Che. Another Tezuka I have to deal with?_" Atobe thought as he sat and watched the Tezuka on the court return Ochi's serve with a superb backhand.

As the match went on, Ochi was panting hard with his sweat dripping onto the pavement. The score was now 40-0 with Mizuka leading the set point. "Ochi's losing? But how?" Cried the Hyotei members. Sakaki put his hand to his eyes as he could not watch the match any longer. "Hey." Mizuka said. Ochi looked up at her as he was about to serve. He widened his eyes as she switched the racquet to her right hand. "For a Hyotei member, you are unsurprisingly weak." She taunted as the crowd in the audience gasped in disbelief. _"Hmm..so he's ambidextrous too? Not bad."_ Echizen thought as Ochi angrily threw up the ball and slammed it. Mizuka returned it fast with her right arm and it looked like it would be a return ace. "No way am I letting a bastard like you beat me!" Ochi launched for the ball and hit it causing it to lob. Mizuka ran up and just as she jumped to smash the ball, a gust of wind blew at her causing her hat and hood to fall off revealing her long dark brown hair in a ponytail. The whole crowd stared in surprise as she smashed it winning the set. She looked up and realized she didn't have her hat or hood on. "Guess I got too carried away with the smash." She sighed and smiled. "He's a GIRL?! I mean she?!" Momoshiro yelled surprised though he was not the only one. "T-That means that she is Tezuka's sister!? Mizuka?!" Kikumaru said in shock.

"G-Game set. Seigaku's Tezuka wins. 1-0." The referee announced as he was still staring at Mizuka. "_I knew she was a girl."_ Atobe thought. "_And she's a tennis player too. A beautiful one at that._"  
"Right Kabaji?" Atobe said as he continued to stare at her. "Yes." replied Kabaji.  
Mizuka undid her pony tail and shook her hair as it fell down halfway down her back in waves. The Seigaku team ran up to her. "You're Tezuka's sister? His younger sister?!" Asked Momoshiro in shock. "No shit" Retorted Kaido to Momoshiro's question. "I WASN'T ASKING YOU, YOU BASTARD" Yelled Momoshiro to Kaido. "Mizuka, right?" asked Fuji. "Weren't you at Seigaku during freshman year? If I remember you were really smart and got sent off to America for enriched education"  
"Ehhhhhhhh? It's really Mizuka? Wow, you've grown so much!" Kikumaru stared at her "Do you remember me?"  
"Of course I remember you! You always wanted to play tennis with me. And yeah, I'm back now and I'm so awesome that they allowed me to enter the third year here in Tokyo."  
"Che. Cocky much." Echizen said. Mizuka turned towards him and looked at him with curiosity. "And who might this be?" She asked. "This is our first year ace, Echizen Ryoma!" Kikumaru beamed poking his cheek. "Nice to meet you." he said. "Same." she replied. "So, will you be celebrating our victory with us? Huh? Huh? We're going to Kawamura's sushi restaurant. The whole restaurant will be booked off just for us! So will you come?" Asked Kikumaru "Well..I guess so" Mizuka replied and the whole team cheered.

"I told you not to embarrass Hyotei!" Coach Sakaki yelled as he reprimanded Ochi. "P-Please Coach Sakaki. Please don't kick me off the team. I was just surprised at the fact that she was a girl." Ochi replied weakly. "Please give me another chance." Ochi pleaded as he bowed on his knees. Sakaki sighed "Fine. But this is your one and only chance. Don't screw up again." Sakaki walked off as the referee announced that they line up.

"_Seigaku wins with a 3-2 and one no-game._" Announced the referee as both teams lined up on both sides of the match to bow for the end of the game. There was a lot of cheering and laughter as the whole group headed towards Kawamura's sushi restaurant where ate to their heart's content.

"Even though we won, I still think you should consider Hyotei as an option." Tezuka said to his sister later that night at home. "I'm not sure. I don't really like their attitude." Mizuka sighed as she flipped through Hyotei's pamphlets at her desk as Tezuka sat beside her. "Not everybody would be like that. Their academics are high and it would be more suited for you to go. You still have a week to choose." He reminded her. "I guess so. Hyotei arranged a tour for me tomorrow, I'll be able to see what their school is really like." Mizuka glanced at Tezuka as she asked "How's your shoulder?"  
"Don't worry about it." He replied as he got up and left to go to bed. She sighed worriedly at her brother and went to get ready for bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The First Encounter

The next day at 11:00 AM, her parents dropped her off at Hyotei's school entrance as they drove off. "_It looks pretty amazing."_ She thought to herself. "Good morning Miss." Greeted an advisor from the school. "Good morning" She resplied. "Today, the school's representative will show you around the school." Mizuka looked around but he was the only one there. Seeing the confused look on her face, the advisor then said "He will be in the school office, just follow me please." And turned and walked off. She followed him towards the school, down the hall and towards one of the many big doors. "_This school is HUGE."_ She looked in awe. The advisor stopped in front of the door and bowed. "Please enter." He opened the door for her and she walked in. Mizuka halted in her steps as the door closed behind her, she saw sitting on the sofa the same person that brought her brother in pain.

"I'll be guiding you and showing you around the school today" Atobe said without even looking at her. He was looking down at some papers. "_You."_ She said in a menacing tone. He slowly looked up at the tone in her voice and realized who it was. "Oh. Well isn't it a pleasure to be able to meet Tezuka's famous little sister. I've already looked at your transcript and your marks are surprisingly up to par" He smirked as he got up from his comfortable sofa and walked towards her. "It's Mizuka, isn't it?" She started stepping back as he got closer, feeling his intimidating aura around him. "_Wait, why am I backing off? I'm not scared of him."_ She thought to herself as she realized he was right in front of her. He put a finger under her chin to lift her face up so she faced him. "My, are you beautiful." He said as he looked her up and down. Mizuka gasped as she pushed his hand down and tripped back as she tried to step away from him. He quickly caught her around the waist, lifted her so she was back on her feet and set her down. As if nothing had happened, he walked towards the door and he turned and looked at Mizuka. "Well, shouldn't we get going?" He said. Mizuka was too surprised by what happened to respond. "Do you need me to hold your hand?" He teased as he held his hand out. Snapping back to focus, she blushed and walked straight out the door ahead of him saying "No." while doing so. "You don't even know where to go." Atobe smiled as she slowed down and let him walk ahead of him. "I am Atobe Keigo. I am the king of Hyotei Academy and captain of the tennis team and the school's representative." He introduced as he walked down the hallways. As they walked, many girls passed them along the hallway and screamed "Atobe-sama!" and Atobe just smirked and kept walking. He seemed to be unaware or didn't care that the girls were giving Mizuka glares as they walked past. She wondered what was so great about him as he continued the tour. She dazed off as they walked down many hallways while he explained where the classrooms were of each subject. They were walking across a bridge when she looked out the window and saw the tennis team practicing which made her smile. "Hey." Atobe snapped his fingers in front of her face. Mizuka gasped at the surprise. "Are you even listening to me?" He looked at where she was just looking and noticed that her attention was back on the tennis courts. He was caught by her beauty as the sun shone through the window, illuminating her features. Her dark brown hair was halfway down her back, her bangs slightly covered the top of her left eye as her arched thin eyebrows shaped finely with her long eyes while her eyelashes made her eyes look even bigger as the sun made her brown eyes shine brighter. Her face was long but small along with her nose and her lips were red and perfectly shaped. Atobe shook himself out of it and said "You should be hungry. It's already 1 PM, let's go to the cafeteria."  
"It's already 1 PM? We've been walking around for 2 hours?" Mizuka replied in surprise as she didn't even realize that they had been walking for so long. "Well we better get going then" He smirked and walked off as he heard her stomach grumble. Blushing, Mizuka followed him.

"Hey, isn't that the girl that beat Ochi?" Otori Chotaro said as he looked at the bridge from practice. Ochi hearing this stood up and looked where Otori was looking "That bitch. She's coming to this school? She better not be that little.."  
"HEY!" Shishido Ryo yelled "Get back to practice. Do you guys want to get kicked off the team?" As he was the one supervising the practice. "Yes!" Otori and Ochi obeyed.

"Wow." Mizuka eyes were wide seeing how huge the cafeteria was. The chairs were cushioned and looked very comfy and there were food filled on each table. "This is amazing." Atobe smirked at the look on her face. "But why isn't anybody here?" She looked around in question as it was absolutely empty except for Atobe and her. "Well, I picked the time to come here when lunch time was over so there wouldn't be people to bombard me with questions. Come on, let's eat." He walked over to a two seated table where the chairs were beside each other. Mizuka followed him and sat down to start eating.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Kisses and Touches

"Wow that was great!" Mizuka licked her lips as she finished a piece of cake. _"I've never had food like this before in a school._" She thought. "You know, I didn't mean to harm your brother during the game. I just-" Atobe started. "You practically destroyed his shoulder. I shouldn't even be talking to you after that. He should have crushed you." Mizuka cut him off and glared at him. Atobe glared back at her impoliteness and also dissing him at the same time. Then laughed as he actually looked at her. "What?" Mizuka asked confused "What's so funny?"  
"You have.." Atobe lifted her chin up towards him "cream on your mouth." He said as he bent his head towards hers and slowly licked the cream off her lips. Mizuka widened her eyes and gasped in surprise and he took the chance to put his tongue in her mouth and into a deep kiss. She tried to push away from him but he put his hands around her waist and pulled her onto his lap making her face him, closer to him, deepening the kiss. He broke the kiss and started kissing and licking her neck. Mizuka panted as his kisses and licks sent prickles through her body. "S-Stop..!" She tried to say as he continued. He held her right arm down as his right hand slowly slid up under the back of her blouse. She tried to use her left hand to stop him but he was too strong. "Stop it!" she said louder and he went back to kissing her on the lips. His right hand found the back of her bra and undid the straps. She tried to slap him but he caught her hand and spun her around as he held her arms back with one hand as he used his other to slowly go down her skirt. "Stop it please!" Mizuka begged and she gasped as his finger brushed her clit. He grinned as he rubbed her clit while using his other hand pull her closer to him while covering her mouth, suppressing her moans. She tried to pull away his hands but she couldn't as the rubbing made her weak. Atobe rubbed faster and he started licking her neck and the smell of her hair that made him go hard as he whispered "I... must have you." And slowly pushed a finger up her pussy. She gasped and whimpered against his hand at the entry. Suddenly, the bell rang which meant the end of a class time. He released her and pushed her lightly onto her chair. "Play time's over...for now" he said as he stood up. "You should go to the washroom and wash up. Your face is all red." He smirked. "Do you need me to hold your hand and go with you?" he asked teasingly as she slapped his hand away and ran off to the washroom. She redid her bra straps in the washroom and tried to slow down her breath. That was the first time somebody had touched her like that. "_That jerk."_ she thought. "_"He must have me? What is wrong with him?" _She had to admit that even though he forced her, he was still gentle with her. She thought about the kisses he was giving her. His lips were really soft and..."_No!"_ she shook her head and started splashing her face with water.

Atobe leaned back in the chair and sighed. He had to relax as the students came pouring in and the girls surrounded him immediately. "Atobe! Why weren't you in class today?" The girls questioned with pouts. "And who was that girl you were with?" asked Ayame Higurashi who was the one seeking Atobe's attention the most since freshman year. "I'm giving a tour to somebody who might join this school." he replied coolly. "Atobe!" Atobe looked over as Ochi ran over with the regulars fast behind him. "Is that bitch really joining this school? She better not! Where is she right now? I'm gonna-" Atobe cut him off. "You're only mad at her for completely crushing you in tennis. You're the one that challenged her, am I right? Maybe if you came to practice more you would already be a regular."  
"But-" Ochi started.  
"You're lucky Coach Sakaki didn't cut you off the team for losing, especially in an unofficial game in front of everybody." Atobe said as he got up to leave. "Where are you going?" Oshitari Yushi asked as Atobe walked off. "I'm still in the middle of a tour. Later" Atobe waved the back of his hand them.

As Mizuka exited the washroom, she jumped as Atobe was standing outside the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Well, well, look who's back?" he smirked. "I never left." she retorted as she glared at him. Atobe walked toward her and she backed away. "Well, we have to continue on with the tour. There's no point glaring at the person guiding you." he sighed as he walked the opposite way. Confused by his sudden change in attitude, she followed him and he continued on as if nothing had happened. He finally showed her the tennis court where he thought she seemed happiest. "If you come to Hyotei, you'll be guaranteed a regular spot." Atobe said as he looked at Mizuka. She looked at him with the only smile he's seen on her all day. "Come, I'll show you the tennis equipment room and we'll discuss any questions you have." He said as he walked off. She was more hesitant to follow him because she didn't want to be in a room alone with him again. As she walked into the equipment room, she saw that it was actually huge considering it was just an equipment room. There was a huge couch, a long desk, and thousands of tennis equipment. "For a tourist, you don't have many questions. Normally I would have gotten thousands of questions already." Atobe said as he looked at her glance around at the tennis equipment. "Hmm? No, not really." She replied simply. She stood straight up as she realized that he had come behind her and held her waist, hugging her closely. He spun her around and pushed her against the wall holding her arms above her. "Atobe! Stop it!" she demanded. "Huh? What's this? You're trying to order me around?" he laughed as he reached down her skirt, under her panties and started rubbing her again. She tried to suppress her moans but failed as he continued. "You're beginning to enjoy this aren't you?" he smirked as this time he pushed two fingers up her. She whimpered at that and he looked at her face searchingly. "_She's never done it before..."_ Atobe thought happily to himself and he tried to kiss her but she turned her head away panting. "I know you want me too. Why else would you come into the tennis room _alone_ with me?" he grinned as she turned back to him with the look of desire in her eyes. He slowly kissed her and to his surprise, she responded. The bell rang again signaling the end of the school day. He groaned at the interruption, pulled his fingers out and let her go.

Atobe walked her towards the entrance of the school noticing that Mizuka was keeping a distance away from him. "What's the matter?" he asked. She looked up at him with her big eyes as he closed in on her. "You know you enjoyed it" he whispered as he lifted her chin up to face him. "No!" she pushed his hand away and stepped back just as her parent's car pulled up on the street. "Goodbye." he said as he took her hand and pulled it towards his face to kiss it, turned and walked back towards the school. Surprised by his sweet farewell, she went speedily towards her parent's car and got in.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Pressed Decision

"How was the tour, honey?" Her mother asked her as her father drove and looked at her through the review mirror. "It was fine.." She lied, looking out the window, trying to erase the thoughts of what had happened. "That boy looks awfully familiar. He looks like a nice boy, I swear I've seen him before." Her mother pondered as they drove on. "What's his name?" She asked. "Atobe Keigo" Mizuka murmured. "ATOBE?!" Her father stomped on the breaks that sent her chest ramming into the seatbelt tightly. "DAD!" She yelled in pain. Her father turned in the driver's seat to look at her. "Atobe is in Hyotei Academy?! Atobe owns the company I'm working at! You are definitely going to that school!" He said as he started the car again. "But why! It's not your decision, it's mine! What if I don't even want to go to that school?" Mizuka protested. "You are going to that school and that's final." She heard the finality tone in her father's voice and she didn't reply and looked out the window.

"Kuniharu, it's her decision, maybe we should let her decide." Her mother asked sweetly to her father after the car rode in silence for a while. "Fine." Her father sighed. "It's your choice Mizuka. If you go to Hyotei you can befriend my boss's son and-"  
"DAD!" Mizuka said as she glared at him through the mirror. "Okay fine fine, I was just stating my opinion" He stated. "Well, your opinion isn't needed" Mizuka retorted. "WHAT!" Her father yelled as he slipped the steering wheel and the car skid. "HONEY!" Her mother screamed. "Okay okay, fine. It's your choice Mizuka" her father said defeated.

As they arrived home and got into the house, she noticed her brother still wasn't home yet. "_Probably at tennis practice_" She thought. She was on her bed when he got home with the back of her hand resting against her eyes. He came to her room and noticed the Hyotei pamphlets in the trash can. "It didn't go so well I'm assuming."  
"I don't want to talk about it" She murmured back. "Atobe was your tour guide right?" Tezuka questioned. He looked at her as she sat up at the name. Tezuka glanced at her with concern. "Kunimitsu, Mizuka, dinner's ready." Their mother called from downstairs before Tezuka can ask her more questions. Saved by their mother, Mizuka jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Sighing, Tezuka followed after her.

Tezuka entered the kitchen to his father and Mizuka arguing while his mother tried to calm them both down. "Think about what you can do for me!" his father yelled "You can get me a promotion and it would put us in a better place! You should be more obedient like your brother. Kunimitsu! Tell her the decision you would have made for me." He said as he glanced at Tezuka. "But you said in the car that it was my decision! I don't want to go to that crappy school just because you want me to!" She protested. Her father stood up half way from his chair with clenched fist but her mother rubbed his back as to calm him down. "Ayana" He looked at her as the anger died out of his eyes and sighed. Before he could talk, Mizuka stood up and ran upstairs. Tezuka sighed as he joined his mother and father at the table and began eating. "Kunimitsu, why don't you take her to Seigaku tomorrow? That'll cheer her up." his mom suggested as she looked sorrowfully at Mizuka's partly touched food. "Yeah, I will" He agreed.

Standing in the hot shower, Atobe let the hot water warm his body up until he felt refreshed. He walked out in his bathrobe to the food waiting for him by the table. He ate in silence as the butlers and maids watched him. He finished and got up to wash up, change, and go to bed as the waitors cleaned up and left his room. As he lay on his bed with opened eyes, he couldn't get the sounds that she made out of his mind. He couldn't control himself when she was near him and against him. He could still feel her in his arms and smell the scent of her hair as he dozed off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Tennis

Mizuka awoke the next day to a grumbling stomach. She went downstairs as she checked her phone. 7:00 AM. Her mother and father were already in the kitchen eating. "Good morning, honey" Her mother greeted as she prepared food for Mizuka. "Ayana, it's time to go." Her father said. He got up and walked out as Mizuka sat down while her mother set down her plate of food. "Don't mind your father Mizuka. He'll get over it. It is your choice so I want you to take your time and choose wisely. Go with whatever makes you happy." Her mother smiled as she kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks mom" Mizuka smiled gladly back.

She went back upstairs, yawning as she headed towards the bathroom when Tezuka had just walked out. "Good, you're awake. Come with me to Seigaku today. Get ready, we're leaving soon" He said as he went downstairs not giving her a chance to reply. Sighing, she went to the bathroom to get ready.

They took the bus to Seigaku and it was surprisingly crowded early in the morning. There were no seats so they had to stand. Mizuka yawned as she stood there with Tezuka, waiting for their stop to come. Suddenly she felt a hand go around her waist and turned to see a guy grinning evilly from another school slide his hand up her shirt. She gasped when Tezuka put an arm around her and pulled her towards him, giving the guy a dangerous look. Mizuka sensed her brother's anger as if he was expressing it through the air. The guy must have sensed it too since he backed away and got off as the bus stopped. Tezuka held her like that until they had to get off. "You need to learn how to protect yourself." He scolded her as they walked towards the school. "I didn't know people would do that. They never did that in America and that's never happened before." She protested "You're too naïve." He walked off angrily. Not wanting to anger him more, she followed him towards the tennis courts.

"Tezuka." Fuji said as he and Tezuka watched Mizuka play happily against Inui. "She's grown up well. Has she decided between the schools yet?" he asked looking at Tezuka. Tezuka sighed as he watched her finish the match. 6-3. "It's her decision. She's happiest when she plays tennis but she should also choose the school that would benefit her future." He said as Mizuka shook hands with Inui. "I miscalculated your play style." Inui smiled as he shook hands with Mizuka. "I didn't know you can play as good as Tezuka. Maybe even better." He said as she beamed at his words. "Yeah but Tezuka, even though you're saying that, you still want her to come to Seigaku so you could keep an eye on her right?" Fuji smiled as Tezuka ignored his words.

Mizuka stayed at Seigaku till lunch and left to go home. She decided that she would walk instead of taking the bus as she waved and took off. She daydreamed as she walked and realized that she was walking past Hyotei. She could see the students wandering around by themselves or in groups as she paused by the entrance. She turned her head in the direction of high-pitched screams as she saw girls surrounding Atobe not too far off.

"Atobe-sama!" The girls screamed and blushed. Atobe just smirked and waved the girls away. He looked towards the entrance and saw Mizuka and started walking towards her. Panicking as she saw him approaching, she turned and started to walk away. She felt a hand on her shoulder after she took a couple of steps and it spun her around. "Leaving without greeting me? How rude." He teased as he took her arm and started pulling her away towards the tennis courts. "Hey! Where are you taking me?" she tried to pull but his grip was too strong. "To continue where we left off last time" he said as they approached the tennis room. Becoming aware of the situation, she used her free hand to try to slap him. "Who do you think you're trying to slap, huh?" He grinned as he pushed her inside. She turned to see the tennis team members looking at her curiously. Then she heard the voice "_What_ _is she doing here?_" she saw as Ochi pushed his way to the front of the group. "What are you still doing on the tennis team?" she retorted "I can't believe you're still on the team with your 'talent'" she taunted.  
"Why you little.." Ochi started towards her and raised his fist, throwing a punch at her. Mizuka closed her eyes at the incoming blow hearing the other team members gasp. _"It didn't come."_ She thought and opened her eyes to see Atobe holding Ochi's fist in mid-punch. "Ochi. Stop." He tightene his grip on Ochi's fist. Ochi winced at the pain and Atobe released his grip. "You will show respect for our guest here." Atobe eyed Ochi dangerously. Then he raised his voice. "Listen up. Show Mizuka here the pride and joy of being at Hyotei and on the tennis team." He said as he snapped his fingers.  
"Yes captain!" The team shouted as they ran out through the door. She looked to see where they were going as they ran to the courts and started having intense tennis practice matches. "Can I play too?" She asked "I like playing against the boys because they are more challenging" "I suppose so. But don't give me a foolish rally" Atobe agreed as he handed her his racquet. He smirked as he watched her rally evenly against Shishido Ryo.

They practiced until lunch was over and started heading back to class. "I hope this will change how you see this school." Atobe said as he stood beside Mizuka at the front entrance. He took her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Some of the girls walking by saw and gasped. "Atobe!" They shrieked and cried as he started walking towards the school, having the girls trail behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Assault

Two days had passed since she had visited Hyotei. She kept picturing Atobe in her head. His husky voice, his soft kisses, and replayed in her head how he lifted her hand to kiss it every time they said goodbye to each other. Shaking her head, she thought about their tennis teams. _"They both have very good tennis teams! Despite losing, Hyotei still has a good team!" S_he pondered as she rolled around in her bed trying to sleep.

She awoke the next day with 12:00 PM showing on her phone. Tomorrow was the weekend and the decision on which school to choose was still on her mind. Sighing, she got up and washed up, deciding she would go to the mall.

She arrived at the surprisingly empty mall around 1:00 PM wearing a blue sweater, a white tank top, black skinny jeans, and black flats. "MIZUKA!" Jumping from the yell of her name, she turned around and saw that Sae Naoto was prancing up to her and leaped to give her a hug. "It really is you Mizuka! You didn't tell me you came back from America!" Sae exclaimed. "Sae!" Mizuka smiled as she saw her old friend from Seigaku.

"You're in third year?" Sae asked as she looked at Mizuka in awe. "You're so lucky to be able to jump a year. I wish I was able to do that! But anyway, you're coming back to Seigaku right? You should! You're so popular there! Especially since your brother is Kunimitsu!" As Sae said that, Mizuka swore she could hear a tint of jealousy in her voice. "Yeah, I think I would rather go back to Seigaku." Mizuka confirmed it just to make her friend happy. "But what about you? How have you been doing?" she asked and her friend told her many stories as they started shopping.

It felt like Sae was dragging her from store to store for hours until she heard a familiar voice from behind. "Hey there sluts" She spun around and widened her eyes saw Ochi with two other guys behind them. Realizing that it was her he grabbed Mizuka's wrist and pulled her close. "It's you!" He said with an evil gleam in his eye and took a glance at Sae and looked back at Mizuka. "Your friend's alright, but now that I got a good look at you up close, you're kinda pretty." He tightened the grip on her wrist and pulled her closer making her wince. "You two can have her friend, I'm taking this one. Let's bring them to a hotel." He ordered. "Stop it!" Mizuka cried as she heard Sae say the same. "You're not gonna be able to walk straight once I'm through with you." He smirked as he looked her up and down. "Maybe I'll just do you right here" He started licking her neck. Mizuka kneed him hard in the stomach which was a bad idea because she felt pain in her neck. "Ouch! You bitch!" Ochi stepped back with smeared blood near his mouth. He pulled Mizuka closer and tighter, and started licking the part where he bit her neck. "Mmmm, you taste good" Ochi moaned as he licked it more. Mizuka, wincing from the pain and trying not to panic at the sound of Sae being pulled away by Ochi's two friends, took a deep breath and quickly slammed him in the face the hardest she can with her fist and as he was shocked from that, she shook her wrist free, shoved one of Ochi's friends into the other, grabbed Sae and ran. "You little bitch! You're gonna pay for that!" Ochi yelled as he ran after them.

They were running quickly through the mall, outside and onto the streets with the boys behind them. Mizuka lead Sae through alleyways and realized that she would have to distract them since she can feel Sae tugging at her hand, struggling to keep up. "Sae! Hide under this table!" She ordered as she pushed Sae under an outside restaurant table already occupied. "Ohhh!" Said a woman at the table. "Sorry!" panted Mizuka. "You're bleeding!" Sae said from under the table covers as she pointed at Mizuka. She touched her neck and looked at her hand covered in blood. "Hey! She's over there!" Yelled Ochi as he just turned the corner. Mizuka held onto her neck as she sprinted off.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The King

It was already 6 when Atobe was leaving the school with the Regulars after finishing from tennis practice. "Man what a practice. My body is all sore!" Mukahi Gakuto stretched his arms. "Hey wait up you slut!" They all turned to look at the direction of the yell. Atobe saw Mizuka running while looking back towards her pursuer as she was holding her neck. He looked at the hand holding her neck and saw that she was bleeding. Looking at her pursuer, he realized that it was Ochi and his friends. Mizuka turned her head just in time to see herself running at Atobe fast. She tried to stop as she stumbled forward and tripped and falls on her front. Atobe caught her before she fell and flipped her so that he was carrying her princess style. He looked down at her, she was sweating and panting heavily still holding onto her neck as she stared frightened at Ochi and his friends coming near. He looked up at Ochi and the others as they slowed down when they saw Atobe and the regulars. Atobe saw a smear of blood near Ochi's mouth and his face turned dark and angry. Oshitari, even though he knew Atobe since freshman had never seen Atobe so angry. "Atobe.." Ochi started.  
"Ochi, you missed practice again. And just for what?" Atobe said in a cold calm voice as he looked back down at Mizuka who was still staring at Ochi in fear, panting. "Atobe I'm-" Ochi began. "You're kicked off the team. Tomorrow I'm telling Coach Sakaki. And as for you two" He said as he turned his cold dark blue eyes at Ochi's two friends. Oshitari examined Mizuka and noticed the blood dripping from her hand holding her neck. "Atobe, she's still bleeding. It needs to be disinfected." He said to his captain. Atobe, looking back at Mizuka, turned toward his limo with Mizuka still in his arms and set her down inside. Looking at her worriedly, he got into the limo with her and told the regulars. "I'll call a second limo to drop you guys off at your homes. And as for you Ochi, I better not see you at tennis practice ever again. Let's go." He ordered the driver as he rolled up the window when the car drove off.

Mizuka held her neck with closed eyes. "Hey. Hey!" Atobe snapped his fingers and Mizuka peeked her eyes open and saw him beside her staring at her with his dark blue eyes. He had a bottle of antibiotic in his hand and poured some of the liquid into a napkin in the other. "This will hurt" he said as he removed her hand and pressed the napkin against her neck. She cried out loud in pain as her eyes shot wide open to the stinging pain on her neck. She pushed Atobe's hand away and scooted away from him. "That hurts!" she yelled. "I told you it would" he smiled and put more liquid onto the napkin and moved closer to her. "Get away from me! I don't want that thing on my neck. I'll be fine." Even though she said that he pulled her ankle. She yelped as she slid closer to him. He forced her hand away and pulled her back close so her neck was closer to him. He pressed the napkin on her neck again and just as she was about to cry out, he forced his lips onto hers as she whimpered into his lips. Her hand clutched onto his hand with the napkin trying to pry it away but it wouldn't work. Tears surfaced her eyes and he forced his tongue into her mouth. Her whimpers turned into moans as he played his tongue with hers. "We're here Master Keigo" The driver said as he pulled into a circular parkway. Atobe broke away from the kiss but still held the napkin to her neck. Mizuka no longer wincing but felt the burning sensation of the napkin against her neck. She looked out the window and noticed that the mansion was incredibly huge. Atobe pulled the napkin away and looked at her neck. It was still bleeding but not as much as before. He opened the door and got outside. He looked in the limo and saw that she was still looking at the mansion in awe. He held out his hand and teased "Do you want me to carry you again?" He smirked as she blushed and crawled out of the limo using his hand for support.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The First Time

They took off their shoes when they entered into the mansion. Mizuka saw several butlers and maids as they said "Welcome home Master Keigo."  
"I'll be back" He left her to go up to the oldest looking butler. "Make sure nobody disturbs me, Sebastian" Atobe said quietly to him. "Do you wish me to call you in the morning then?" Sebastian asked. "Yes, at the regular time." Atobe said as he walked back to a curious looking Mizuka. "Yes, Master Keigo." Sebastian bowed as he walked off.  
"What happened?" she asked. "What did you say to him?"  
"Now you're curious?" Atobe smirked as she asked him more questions. "Is it about my neck? Am I going to die?"  
"Don't ask such silly questions. Come on." He said as he put his arm around her and guided her along the corridor and he finally opened one that was on the end of the hallway. She saw that it was a huge bedroom as he pulled her into the bathroom. "This is one of my bedrooms." he said. "_One_ of your bedrooms?" She replied in shock but could understand because of how big the mansion was. "Sit on the counter" He ordered and she obeyed. There were more antiseptics in a counter he opened and she saw that he picked the one with bluish-purplish colour. "This won't hurt." He said as he poured the liquid onto a towel. He came close to her and pushed the towel onto her neck. She cried out at the incredible sting that felt like a dozen needles were stabbing into her neck. Her neck felt numb as she looked up at him with watery eyes. "You lied!" She croaked as she pushed his hand away and tried to get off the counter. He pushed her back on and laughed. "You didn't believe me the first time I told you."  
"This one hurts more than the last one!" She whispered as her neck was literally burning and when she looked at the mirror, it was no longer bleeding but it was turning a darker shade of red. "It'll get better like this" Atobe smirked as he threw the napkin away and used a wet towel with water to wash her neck. He eyed her body as he softly patted down her neck.

It startled her when he pulled her towards him and carried her and placed her on the bed. She looked up at him as he took off his shirt to reveal his hard muscles and abs. Atobe jumped on top of her and rushed his mouth onto hers. Mizuka's eyes widened and he used his hand to cover her eyes and push her down. He unzipped her sweater and as she started to protest, he pushed his tongue into her mouth. Sitting her up he pulled off her sweater and threw it onto the floor. Mizuka tried to crawl away but he pinned her down both hands by her head. "It's okay. I won't hurt you." He whispered and he softly kissed her lips. He looped his fingers with hers and used his right hand to lift her tank top and go under her bra while sliding his kisses down to the side her neck. Her eyes opened wide as he cupped her breast and tried to use her free hand to push him off. He used his body to hold one arm down as he used his hand hold the other. "A-Atobe, please st-" he shoved his tongue into her mouth before she could whisper words. He continued with his hand going up her tank top on the back and unhooked her bra. He broke off the kiss and pulled off her tank top along with her bra and started licking her breasts and sucking them, using his tongue to play with her nipples while his hand went down to her jeans and started unbuttoning them. She was panting as she tried to push him off with her free hand. He slowly kissed his way back to her lips and kissed her while pulling down her pants to revealed her panties. His hand slipped down under her panties and started rubbing her. He started hearing soft moans coming from her mouth through kissing and felt how wet she was as he stuck a finger into her and her eyes flew wide open. He stuck another finger to join his first and she slightly bit down on his lip in surprise. He pulled away looking at her as she whimpered in pain, struggling to deal with the sting she felt. "I won't do it if you truly don't want me to" He said as he pulled his fingers out and unbuttoned his pants and kicked his pants and boxers off seeing as she lay there in silence and stared at him with her big brown eyes. "I want you." He whispered as he gazed at her body. "You're beautiful." He breathed before he closed his eyes and kissed her passionately. She felt him get hard as his dick was pressed against her leg. Pushing down her panties, he readied himself in between her legs and slowly pushed himself halfway in, breaking through the barrier. Her eyes snapped wide and her back arched as she cried out from pain. "Shh..It's okay. It's going to hurt the first time." He whispered softly to her and continued to push in and out of her slowly.

He truly was very big; she felt her pussy burn and sting as he continued. He suddenly thrust his whole dick inside her and she cried out as he moved a bit faster. "I-It _hurts,_ Atobe! It really _hurts!_" She whimpered and panted as she tried to push him out. He looked at her carefully, seeing the pain through her eyes as he continued before pushing in for one last time and pulled out, giving in to her whimpers and rolling off to lay beside her. Mizuka still feeling the sting inside her felt him pull her close to him, hugging her tightly. "Go to sleep. You had a long day today" He whispered. He felt her breathing slow down and watched as she closed her eyes and fall asleep from exhaustion.

Mizuka opened her eyes, startled to see Atobe's face right in front of her, the moonlight illuminating his features. His arm was around her waist hugging her close under a blanket. She observed his face looking from his bluish-black hair to his arched eyebrows to his eyes that had long lashes then she noticed his mole below his right eye. As she used her hand to touch it, Atobe peeked his eyes open and chuckled softly as she pulled her hand away quickly and blushed. "Why are you blushing? I've already seen _you_." He smiled as he watched her blush even harder. Avoiding the question, she asked "How did the blanket get on us? I don't remember."  
"Oh, my servants walked in and put it on us while we were sleeping" He replied. "WHAT?!" She gasped shockingly as she mentally pictured the servants seeing her naked. "I'm just kidding." He laughed. "I pulled the blanket over us. Don't worry." As he slowly closed in for a kiss. Mizuka then noticed his windows and that they were dark outside, meaning...it was nighttime! She quickly turned and tried to get out of bed but Atobe pulled her back. "What's wrong?"  
"I have to get home!" She flipped open the blanket and started to get out. Again, Atobe pulled her back. "Calm down. It's only...11:00 PM." He said as he glanced at a digital clock on the bedside table. "But my parents-" Mizuka started to say "Shh..shh.." Atobe hushed her as he put a finger on her lips. "We can deal with your parents in the morning. It's late, let's go back to sleep." he assured her. Calming down, Mizuka looked to grab the blanket when she noticed a small patch of blood on the bed and gasped at the sight of it. Atobe followed her stare. "It happens the first time." He calmly said as he brushed the back of his hand against her soft dark brown hair. She sighed softly as she lay back down on his arm. He pulled her closer to him, watching her fall asleep for the second time that night.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Day After

Atobe opened his eyes to the sun shining through his window. He looked down at his arm to see Mizuka soundly asleep on it. He smiled as he brushed her hair away from her face and bent his face down to kiss her awake. He slowly pushed his tongue through her lips and into her mouth and played with her tongue. Mizuka's eyes fluttered to see dark blue eyes staring at her and her eyes shot wide open as she realized that Atobe was kissing her. At her awakening, he leaned onto her, deepening the kiss. He moved his hand, sliding it down her body, past her stomach towards her pussy. Her hand tried to stop it but he forced it lower and started rubbing her and started his kisses down to her neck. She moaned softly and winced as he shoved a finger up her, feeling the stinging sensation. "Atobe.." She gasped his name as he pulled away hearing a sudden knock on the door.  
"Master Keigo. Your breakfast is ready." Sebastian announced through the door. Sighing at the interruption and looking at the clock, it just struck 10:00 AM. Sebastian was never late. He got up and pulled her up with him. "I assume you're hungry?" He smiled as he heard her stomach grumble. "It's not just my stomach" She laughed as they heard his stomach do the same. When they finished washing up, he closed in on her. She closed her eyes assuming that it would be a kiss but opened them when the kiss didn't come. "It'll heal, hopefully without a scar." He said while examining her neck. Feeling embarrassed, she stepped back to move away but he leaned in and she felt a slight kiss on her neck. She blushed lightly as he turned towards the door and signaled for her to follow him.

As they walked down the hallway, Sebastian followed silently behind them. Mizuka felt buzzing in her sweater pocket. She realized that it was her phone and took it out to see 'Mom' showing on the screen and picked up.  
"Hey Mom, I-" She began but her mother cut her off. "Oh Mizuka! We were so worried about you! Thank goodness you're okay!" Her mother sighed, relieved to hear her daughter's voice. "Yeah mom I'm at-" She tried to explain as this time her father interrupted her. "Get home right this instant! You're in big trouble!" Atobe chuckled as he heard the voices of her parents and stood there watching in amusement as Mizuka tried to explain. "Dad I-" she started but it hit a dead line. She looked at her cellphone, it was out of battery. "Atobe! May I use your phone?" She quickly asked him. "Sebastian" He said as he snapped his fingers. She turned around as the old butler handed her a cellphone and she quickly dialed her home number. "Hello?" She heard the hoarse voice of her father. "Dad! I-" She tried to say. "Mizuka!" He roared through the phone as he began yelling at her. Atobe snatched the phone from her and announced "Mr. Tezuka. This is Atobe Keigo speaking." Mizuka heard her father's voice stop abruptly. "Your daughter was under my care for the night. I apologize for not informing you earlier or before doing so." Atobe spoke smoothly "I will personally escort your daughter home after breakfast." She heard her father say a few words and he hung up and put the phone in his pocket. "What did he say?" Mizuka asked, wanting to know how her father had responded. "Just this and that, 'I'm sorry, please excuse me for my rudeness?' Somewhere along those lines." He smirked as he continued walking. "Come on, I don't think you've ever had a luxurious breakfast before." He said as she caught up with him. "But-" She started but he pushed open two large doors and was interrupted. "Good morning Master Keigo" His servants greeted as they walked in. She saw that it was the dining room, the dining table was extremely long that could seat about 20 people. They sat at the end of the table as his servants placed the breakfast on their plates. "Thank you" She said and the servant looked at her with surprise and smiled, bowed, and backed away. Atobe watching in amusement laughed lightly as Sebastian announced what they were eating and informed Atobe that his parents were now in Italy.

"Sorry about my father" Mizuka apologized while they were on the limo-ride to her house. "He sounds a lot like you" Atobe teased her as he dodged a smack to the arm. He grabbed her arm and she gasped as he pulled her closer to him. "Who do you think you're trying to hit huh?" He said. She closed her eyes as he bent in towards her face and softly brushed his lips against hers. He grabbed a pen out of a small cabinet, pulled her hand and started writing numbers down on her palm. "This is my number. Text me with your name." He said while writing. "Master Keigo, we have arrived." The driver announced. When the limo stopped, Atobe got out and gave Mizuka his hand for support. He took her hand to his lips and she blushed as he kissed it. "Farewell, beautiful."  
"You're not coming with me?" She asked as he let her hand go. "Not today" He watched and waited for her to enter her house.  
"I'm home" Mizuka called upon opening the door. The first thing she sees is her brother with his normal stoic expression, her mother with a slight smile, and a big smile on her father's face. They were standing there all dressed up. Her father's smile disappeared after seeing only his daughter enter. "Mizuka?! Where's Atobe's son?" He asked as he ran past her outside the door, not waiting for her to reply to see Atobe's limo driving off. "Oh, Mizuka! You're back!" her mother cried as she ran to hug her daughter. Tezuka let out a huge sigh and walked towards his sister and gave her a long hug after their mother had reluctantly let her go. "Never do that again." He whispered into her ear as she felt him quiver for a second before he let her go. "Mizuka! I knew you would choose Hyotei!" She turned as her father clapped her on the back. "Kuniharu! She disappeared for a day and all you could think of was the school she is choosing?!" Her mother yelled. Her father looked at Mizuka briefly and pulled her into his arms. "You're right Ayana. I'm sorry Mizuka." Her father said as he hugged her. "Just give us a call next time before you go over to Atobe's, okay?"  
"Kuniharu!" Her mother smacked him at the back of his head. "What? She's already gone over once, she might as well go again." Her father pulled back, rubbing the back of his head. Tezuka glanced at his sister and noticed a mark on her neck. "Mizuka, let's go upstairs." He said as their parents argued. With no objections, she followed him upstairs as he headed towards her room. He closed the door once she got in and pushed her against the wall. "What is _that_?" He asked, pointing at her neck. She used her hand to cover her neck and said. "It's nothing." He groaned as he forcefully removed her hand to examine it closer. "This is not nothing. It's a bite mark. Somebody bit you?" he asked confusedly. "Did Atobe do that?"  
"No." She pulled her hand back. "It's nothing." She didn't want to tell her brother about Ochi or he would be really furious and force her to go to Seigaku. "Sometimes I wish you would just tell me some of your problems. I'm your big brother Mizuka, I can help you." He sighed as he turned to leave her room. "By the way, did you choose the school you're planning to go to?" He asked as he was closing the door. "You should decide quickly so you can inform the school to prepare for you by Monday. And you should cover that before mom or dad sees" He said as he shut the door. Sighing, she remembered Atobe's number that he left on her hand. She quickly took out her phone to charge and add his number. Tezuka sighed outside her door as he pressed his hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright dear?" He turned to see his mother walking up the stairs. "I'm alright. It's nothing to worry about" He walked into his room with his mother looking after him with concern.

Atobe was at school watching the Regulars practice when he felt a slight buzzing in his pocket. He took out his phone to see a new message displayed and opened it. "_Hi_" Was all that was written on it. He smirked at her one word text_. "How naïve."_

Mizuka was eating lunch with her family, making sure that her hair covered the bite mark on her neck, when her phone vibrated. "Excuse me." She said as she flipped open her phone. "Jeez kids these days. They take their phones everywhere with them." Her father complained as he watched her. _"Hello beautiful"_ She blushed as she read his text. "What's wrong?" Her brother and father asked in unison, seeing her face all red. "Nothing." She smiled slightly as she shut her phone and put it away. "Speaking of Atobe's son" Her father started. "But we weren't speaking about him." Mizuka said as she finished her food. "Well, anyway. Did you decide on which school you want to go to?" Rolling her eyes, she looked at him and gave him a curt answer. "Because of you, I'm going to choose Seigaku." She got up from the table and went upstairs to her room as she heard her father yell her name. She took a pen, got out the application form and stared at it. The only spot missing was the school name. Her hand hovered over the empty space. She shook her head and wrote down the name of the school. She felt another vibrate. _"What are you doing?"_ She smiled as she replied.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Hyotei Gakuen

_"I'm joining Hyotei"_ Atobe smiled as he read Mizuka's text. "Why are you smiling so deviously?" He looked up to see Oshitari walking towards him. "Because we are going to gain a member to Hyotei." He replied. "Oh? Tezuka's little sister is it? I could be wrong but even though she's 16; she jumped a year ahead so she's technically in our grade now." Oshitari pushed his glasses up as he spoke. "Right you are." Atobe said as he walked towards the school. "Where are you going now?" Oshitari asked to Atobe's back. "Going to inform the executives." His captain waved as he strode off.

_"Good morning, beautiful"_ Mizuka awoke on Monday morning at 7:00 AM blushing as she read the text. She pranced into the washroom to get ready. Feeling all giddy, she walked out all prep and ready to go, wearing a white blouse and skirt. Her mother and father bumped into her. "Good morning dear" Her mother smiled. "Morning mom, dad." She greeted. "I just want you to know that I acknowledge your decision, Mizuka." Her father said as he began to walk down the stairs. "Great, thanks. I need a ride to Hyotei." She said as her father halted in his steps and turned to pull her into a warm hug. "I knew you would see it my way!" Her father beamed as her mother gave him a glare. "No dad." She said as she pushed him off. "I'm going to Hyotei because I want to, not because of you."  
"Oh. Right, right." Her father nodded but was in a good mood as her brother joined them for breakfast and as he was driving her and her brother to school. Her phone vibrated. _"Meet me in the school office at 8:15 AM" _it said and it was already 8:10 AM. "Dad, are we almost there?" she asked. "Excited to go to Hyotei huh? Well, we're here, Mizuka." He said as he slowed down the car to a stop. "Have fun dear" Her mother said as she grabbed her bag and exited the car. Her brother nodded at her as she turned to wave at them.

Mizuka knocked on the office door and she looked up as the door opened to see dark blue eyes gazing down at her. "Atobe" She smiled and Atobe took her arm and pulled her inside, closing the door. She turned around and was surprised at the sudden kiss. He put one hand on the back of her head while his other hand went down to her back and pulled her closer for a deeper kiss as she moved her hands up to his shoulders for support. Pushing her against the wall, he moved his hand from her back to unbutton a part of her blouse from the front and slipped his hand inside. "Atobe..not here!" Mizuka gasped as she broke off the kiss. He stopped and leaned his forehead against hers. "That's right, we wouldn't want you to get too excited now would we?" He smirked still holding her near. "You have to get ready. I have your uniform in the washroom. Go get changed." He sighed as he released her. She entered the washroom and was again amazed at how huge the room was considering that it was a washroom. She saw Hyotei's brand new uniform neatly folded inside a clear bag on the counter and got changed.

Mizuka opened the washroom door and jumped as Atobe stood right at the peak of the door, leaning against the wall. "Do you always stand in front of the washroom?" She asked as he examined her in the uniform. "Do you like it?" He took the bottom of her tie and flipped it to the back, showing a small cursive writing of her name; _Tezuka M._ "Every student has their own names stitched onto it." He said as he flipped his own tie to show her; _Atobe K._  
"Oh wow. That's so cool!" She admired her tie as she went to her bag to put in her clothes and pull out her application form. "Where do I submit this?" She asked as he took it from her. "I'll hand it to the principal at the assembly." He said as he glanced at the wall clock showing 8:25 AM. "There's going to be an assembly? Why?" she asked curiously, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. "We're welcoming you to our school." he replied simply and took her arm. "Come on, we have to get going." He guided her out of the office and they strided along the corridor. "There's going to be an assembly just to welcome me? Isn't that a bit too much?" She asked as he looked at her and smirked. "Nothing is ever too much".  
They passed the foyer and continued along the hallway before they took a turn and finally reached a side door where she heard many people talking inside. "Are you ready?" he said as he opened the door and they entered. A man was standing there and turned as he heard them arrive. "Atobe! You're here just in time. Is this Tezuka Mizuka?" He asked as he glanced at his watch. "Obviously. Mizuka, this is the principal, Sakuji Teruzane." Atobe introduced. The principal held out his hand and she shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled and turned to walk out to the stand. "Ladies and gentlemen" He bellowed and the chattering died down. "Please give a round of applause for your school's representative, Atobe Keigo." There was a loud eruption of cheers and shouts as Atobe walked onto the stage. Mizuka could hear the chorus of the guys cheering "Atobe" and the girls screaming "Atobe-sama!" as the principal tried to die the students down. Atobe raised his hand and snapped his fingers and the students stopped immediately. "I, Atobe Keigo, am pleased to announce the welcoming of a new student. Tezuka Mizuka!" He glanced at Mizuka as she walked onto the stage. Students started clapping and cheering and they started a chorus of "Mizuka! Mizuka! Welcome to Hyotei!" As she went to stand by Atobe. She smiled and blushed at the welcoming the students were giving her. Atobe grinned and raised his hand to the air again and snapped and the crowd reduced to clapping.  
"That bitch is really joining this school" Ochi groaned to his friends in the audience. "She's hot!", "She's so pretty", "She looks sexy". Whispered some of the boys. "Che. Why do we have to have an assembly just for her? This is super lame" Shishido complained as he sat in his seat with the Regulars. "Atobe wants us to meet him in the tennis club room after the assembly" Oshitari told the Regulars as the principal cleared his throat. "Now, now. There will be no breaks today. In-" The students groaned before the principal was able to finish his sentence.  
"Instead, classes will be shortened as they will start after lunch. They will be approximately...40 minutes each. You are dismissed." The principal finished and the students' groans turned into cheers upon hearing the news and started piling out as Atobe, Mizuka and the principal walked off the stage. "Mizuka, please come with me to the office as I will enter your application into the school system." Principal Sakuji said as he walked out the door. "That was the shortest assembly I have ever been to." Mizuka smiled as Atobe took her hand. "Are you happy?" He grinned down at her. "Very." She blushed as he lifted her hand and kissed it. "I have some things to deal with. I'll meet up with you later." He said as she nodded and followed the principal.

"You want us to what?!" Exclaimed Shishido as the Regulars gathered in front of Atobe. "Just keep an eye on Mizuka. I requested to the principal that whatever courses she picks, the class she is assigned to should have at least one of the tennis team Regulars on it. He agreed seeing as it wasn't a big deal." Atobe calmly told his team as he looked up at them from his sofa. "It won't be a problem seeing as she is in our year." Oshitari said as he agreed with his captain. "Mizuka is certainly amazing..even though she is my age, she jumped a year ahead. That means she must be very smart" Otori said in astonishment.  
"Then why should we watch her since she's so _smart?_" Shishido scoffed.  
"There's a difference between school smarts and street smarts, Shishido." Atobe said as he stood up. "Ugh. Whatever." Shishido grunted. "Well seeing as there are no objections, you guys should get to practice. We will train the juniors and freshmans to win Kanto Tournament next year. And then, reach the number one spot" Atobe grinned as Kabaji spoke "The winner will be Hyotei" and left the room. "I don't see what the big deal is. She's just a girl" Shishido complained as he got his racquet. "That is the deal. _She is_ a girl. You heard some of the guys out there" Oshitari said as he walked towards the door. "It'll be dangerous for her, especially against the girls."  
"Against the girls? But why?" Shishido looked at Oshitari with confusion. "You're too slow, Ryo" Mukahi slapped Shishido's back. "Come on, let's get to practice."

"This is your timetable for the first and second semesters. Your timetable for the last two semester courses will be handed to you at the end of the second semester." The principal informed as he handed Mizuka her schedule. They sat in his office while he browsed through her record on the computer. "I am very impressed by your grades, Mizuka, you don't have to take an entrance exam. It is rare to see a student jump a year." He praised her as she examined her timetable.

**-Semester 1 and 2-Tezuka Mizuka-Homeform 3H-**

**8:30-9:40 AM - Biology**

**9:40-9:50 AM - BREAK**

**9:50-11:00 AM - English**

**11:00 AM-12:30 PM - LUNCH**

**12:30-1:40 PM - Functions**

**1:40-1:50 PM - BREAK**

**1:50-3:00 PM - Astronomy**

"Thank you" she smiled as she looked up at him. "You have 3 hours to spare. Why don't you try to make some friends during that time? I assume you know where everything is having come to the tour last week?" He asked. "Yes. I'll be going now." She said as she got up and left. Mizuka walked down the hallway and took out her phone to see a new message displayed. _"Where are you?"_ From Atobe. "Hey there!" Said a sweet voice. She looked up to see a girl standing in front of her. "My name's Higurashi Ayame. You're Tezuka Mizuka right?" She asked as she eyed Mizuka. She had long black hair and was slightly shorter than Mizuka. "Yeah, nice to meet you" She greeted. "Come on! I'll show you around!" Ayame offered as she took Mizuka's arm and pulled her along.

Ayame took her to each of her classrooms, showing her where they were. "If you ever get lost, there's a map on every floor." She pointed at a huge map hanging on the hall wall. Mizuka was surprised at how nice she was being._ "Maybe the people aren't so bad after all"_  
"You must be hungry! Let's go to the cafeteria!" Ayame grabbed Mizuka's arm and pulled her along. "Hold on!" Mizuka said as she struggled to hold her bag as Ayame dragged her down the hallway. In the cafeteria, Ayame introduced Mizuka to her friends though she doubted that she would be able to remember their names. They brightly greeted her but she wasn't sure if their smiles reached their eyes.

"She's the one that Atobe's been around a lot." Suki said as Ayame pulled Mizuka away. "Yeah! He kissed her hand last week!" Cried the other girls. "We'll wait to see what Ayame wants to do about it. She brought her to show us for a reason." Suki smirked as they finished eating.

After lunch, Ayame dropped her off at her classroom and left. "I'll see you later!" She gleefully said as she skipped along the hallway. Mizuka turned around and was startled by a tall guy with long blue hair and circular glasses. "Tezuka Mizuka. My name is Oshitari Yushi. It is a pleasure to meet you." He greeted her as he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you." She said as she shook his hand. "I'm a Regular on the tennis team. You might remember me from the Kanto Tournament and the day you came to play tennis" Oshitari blinked at the blank look on her face. "But anyway, how was the entrance exam?"  
"I didn't have one! My marks are so amazing that I didn't need to take it."  
"How great." Oshitari smiled as she beamed up at him. _"She is quite similar to Atobe but she doesn't express her arrogance as much as he does."_  
"Take your seats" Their teacher said as he entered the classroom. "Is Tezuka Mizuka here?" He asked the class. "Here" she called as he looked at her. "I am Yudai Washio. You may take your seat beside Oshitari-kun. Oshitari-kun, please give Mizuka-san your notes." He said as he began to start the biology lesson.

The afternoon went on as they went to their classes where she met Mukahi and Shishido in second for English. "This is Mukahi Gakuto and Shishido Ryo." Oshitari introduced. "Oh hey. It's you." She said as she looked at Shishido, remembering the rally she had with him. "You're still on the tennis team after I had that rally with you?" Shishido rolled his eyes as Mukahi and Oshitari laughed. "Move it." Growled a voice and they turned to see Ochi as he shoved Mizuka. Shishido caught her by the shoulders and balanced her. "Jeez, what's with him?" He glared at Ochi as he took his seat at the back of the class. "He's probably still pissed because he's off the team." Mukahi whispered as they watched Ochi's friends join him. Oshitari bumped into something and looked up to see Kabaji. "Oh, and this is Kabaji Munehiro." He said as he took his seat beside Mukahi. "Yes." Kabaji spoke. "Nice to meet you." Mizuka smiled. "Yes." Kabaji repeated. "You're on the tennis team too?" She asked. "Yes." Kabaji repeated. Mizuka gave him a curious look and asked "Can you say anything other than 'yes'?"  
"Yup." Mukahi and Oshitari chuckled while Shishido tried to hide his smile at Kabaji's answer. Mizuka took her seat beside Shishido and in front of Oshitari as he handed her his workbook for English.  
She met Akutagawa Jirou as they headed to their third class for functions. "Nice to meet you" Jirou smiled widely as he greeted Mizuka. "Mizuka!" Ayame called as she ran towards Mizuka and Oshitari and jumped to give Mizuka a hug. _"How odd, Ayame isn't normally nice to girls. She hardly takes notice of them."_ Ohshitari looked on as they took their seats. Mizuka took her seat between Ayame and Jirou as Oshitari sat behind Mizuka. "Here." He said as he handed Mizuka his notebook for functions. "I doubt you would get any good notes from Jirou." He glanced at the already sleeping Jirou. Mizuka turned to look at Jirou and giggled as she took Oshitari's notebook.  
"Bye Mizuka!" Ayame smiled as the class ended and she skipped down the hall. "Ayame sure is unusual today." Oshitari wondered aloud as they headed to their final class. "Ayame? She's so nice. She helped me look for my classes today." Mizuka said as they walked to the same class. "Oh. You're in this class too?" Oshitari looked at her in amusement. Mizuka nodded and they entered their final class, astronomy. _"I'm in all of her classes"_ Oshitari mused to himself. _"What a captain."_  
"By the way Shishido, what are you doing in this class?" Oshitari looked at his teammate in wonder who he sat a desk beside him, puffing angrily. "I went to my gym class and my teacher said that I had changed my course to astronomy! This is so lame! God damn that Atobe!" Shishido ranted as he glared at Mizuka's back. She sat at the desk in front of them copying Oshitari's notes.

Mizuka took out her phone at the end of class to see Atobe's text open. _"Where are you?"_  
"You better go meet up with him now." Oshitari said as he peaked behind her at the text. "It'll be fine." She said as she replied to Atobe. _"I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to head home now._" She sent it as she waved goodbye to Oshitari and Shishido and left the class. "She's not like the other girls. I guess that's why Atobe is so interested in her." Oshitari thought aloud. "In what way is she different?" Shishido asked as he scribbled down Oshitari's notes. "Well for one thing, she has Atobe's number." Oshitari pointed out. "So what? I have his number." Shishido looked up at Oshitari.  
"That's because you're his _teammate_, his _friend_. Atobe never gives his number out to girls. Mizuka is a girl." Oshitari frowned at Shishido's confused look. "Why does everybody keep saying that? I know she's a girl."  
"Never mind." Oshitari sighed, giving up on explaining.

Mizuka neared the entrance of the school and was approached by three guys. "Hey there. You're Mizuka right?" Asked one of them. "Hi..yeah." She replied as she tried to walk past them. "Not so fast!" His friend said as he put his arm out to stop Mizuka from passing through. "You're quite pretty." He said as he eyed her up and down. "Why don't we go on a date?"  
"No, thank you." She said as she avoided his arm and continued walking only to be blocked by his third friend. "Why not? Do you already have a boyfriend?" He grinned as he stepped closer to her. Suddenly she felt a hand clasp around her wrist and was pulled back. "She's taken by me." She heard the voice of Atobe as he put his arm around her and pulled her against him. "A-Atobe!" The guys stuttered as they saw him. "W-We didn't know!" They said as they backed away. "Of course you didn't." Atobe smirked as he glanced down at Mizuka. "But you do now."  
"Y-Yes we do! Sorry!" They bowed and ran off.  
"You think you can go home without seeing me?" He smirked as he pulled her towards his limo. "Why didn't you reply to my text?" He asked as the driver opened the door for them. "I forgot." She said as he put his arm around her and pulled her close to him as they sat in the limo. "To Mizuka's house." He ordered. "Yes, Master Keigo." His driver said as the car drove off. He lifted her face up to look at him, "Try not to do it again." He said as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. "How was your first day?"  
"It was fun, I met a lot of people." She sat back as she thought of the first day. "There was this girl, Ayame. She's really nice and cheerful, she helped me find my classes. The tennis team regulars seem to be in all of my classes..In fact, Oshitari is in all of my classes. He's really generous offering me his notes to catch up." She looked at him to see him looking at her thoughtfully. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing." He pulled her close and embraced her in his arms, breathing in her scent as she closed her eyes and hugged him back.  
"We have arrived, Master Keigo." Announced his driver. They got out of the limo and Atobe kissed her hand farewell and watched her enter her house before leaving.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Target

Mizuka closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned her back against the door, still feeling Atobe's embrace. She yelped as the door opened and she fell on the floor. Tezuka blinked as he saw his sister lying on the floor. "Mizuka, what are you doing?"  
"Push ups" she said sarcastically as her brother helped her up. "What are you doing home so early? I thought you had tennis practice?"she asked him while they went upstairs. "Not today." he replied as he went to his room, shutting the door. _"He's so weird sometimes"_ She sighed, going into her room.

"It's rare to see you so absentminded." Oshitari walked with Atobe as the Regulars followed behind them after practice. "But it doesn't effect my magnificent play." Atobe grinned. "Well I have to agree with you on that one." Oshitari smiled as they rode in Atobe's limo. "Oshitari." Oshitari looked at his captain as he gazed out the window, watching the fully bloomed cherry blossom trees pass by. "Is Ayame in any of your classes?"  
"I believe she is in my functions class. She made quite an appearance today with Mizuka. She seemed actually happy that Mizuka had entered Hyotei."  
"What about Ochi?"  
"English." Oshitari replied  
"Is that so.." Atobe rested his chin on his hand. "Hey Atobe!" Atobe turned his gaze towards Shishido, who had just remembered that his class was switched. "Why did you switch me into astronomy!? You know I like gym class!"  
"Well is that gym class doing you any good for university?" He asked as he watched his teammate clench his fists. "Don't give me that bullshit! You only switched me into that class because Mizuka is there!" Shishido angrily said. "Why don't you take that course yourself?"  
"Because my presence, even though alluring, doesn't make it better for her." Atobe said, watching the angry Shishido give him a blank look. "You basically made her a living target from that assembly." Oshitari remarked. "I realized that while the assembly was in session, even though it was only 5 minutes." Atobe sighed. "Though you guys are keeping an eye on her right?"  
"Yes." Kabaji nodded.  
"Of course." Mukahi said.  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Shishido rolled his eyes.  
"Well, she is in every one of my classes." Oshitari grinned.  
"Even though I have no classes with her, I can keep an eye on her out of class." Otori rubbed the back of his head.  
"I don't really mind." Hiyoshi shurgged.  
They heard snoring and looked to see Jirou asleep in his seat. "Well, that's everybody." Atobe grinned as the Regulars laughed.

Mizuka awoke Tuesday morning and sighed looking at no new text on her phone as she got up to get ready. Wondering why she had not seen her brother who normally would bump into her in the morning, she went to his room and knocked. "Come in." She opened the door to see her brother at his study table dressed in normal clothing. "Oh Mizuka, what is it?" Tezuka asked. "Aren't you going to school today?" She looked at him curiously as got up, covering the papers he was looking at and walked towards her. "Not today." He said, glancing at the wall clock. "It's already 7:45, go eat breakfast." And closed the door.  
She stood there staring at the door. "Mizuka, why are you staring at Kunimitsu's door?" She turned to see her father outside the washroom. "I just-" She started. "Just go eat breakfast." He said as he walked towards her. "Go now." She nodded and turned to go down the stairs, looking back to see her father enter her brother's room.  
"Mizuka, would it be alright if you take the bus today?" Her mother asked her as she finished eating breakfast. "Sure, it's not a problem. Bye mom!" Her mother kissed her on the cheek as she left. Mizuka closed the door and stopped in her steps to see Atobe standing in front of her house. "Good morning beautiful" he grinned as she walked to him and hugged him. "Atobe!" she smiled as he kiss her. "What are you doing here!"  
"Picking you up." They entered the limo and went to school.

"Do you understand this question?" Oshitari pointed towards the question in the biology textbook. Mizuka studied the question before shaking her head. "I don't even understand what it's asking." Mr. Yudai was cleaning the chalkboard while the students packed up for break. "I'll ask him. You don't have to wait for me, go first, I'll meet you in English." Oshitari said. "Alright." Mizuka nodded and left the class.  
Right when she entered English class, Ochi and his two friends surrounded her. "Well well well, look what we have here." Ochi sneered as he stepped closer to Mizuka, glaring down at her. "Don't get mad at me because it was your fault for being kicked off the tennis team." Mizuka returned Ochi's glare. "You've got a big mouth don't you?" Ochi growled as he raised his hand for a slap. Shishido grabbed Mizuka by the arm and pulled her back just as Ochi swung his hand. "Stop it Ochi."  
"And what are you going to do about it, Shishido? The only reason you're still on the team after losing to those Fudomine freaks was because you cut your hair." Ochi evilly grinned as Shishido glared at him. "Shut up! At least I'm still _on_ the team. You totally got owned by Mizuka and she wasn't even using her dominant hand." Shishido snarled. Ochi and his friends stepped closer to them and stopped just as Oshitari, Mukahi, and Kabaji appeared behind them. "We'll deal with this later." Ochi growled and they pushed past them, leaving the room. "Thank you." Shishido looked down to see Mizuka looking gratefully at him and realized he was still holding tightly to her arm. "Whatever." He looked away and blushed as he released her and walked to their seats. "Oooou, big brother Ryo" Mukahi laughed and winced as Shishido smacked him on the back of the head but continued laughing. "So Mizuka, are you going to join the girl's tennis team?" Mukahi asked her. "Yeah, I was thinking about signing up today at lunch." She smiled as she thought about it. "They'll accept you for sure. Considering how you played against Ryo last week." Mukahi said as the teacher and students were piling in from break. "Alright class, take out your notes and start copying these sentences down. There's going to be a test next week." The teacher announced and the students groaned.

"Um, no." The girl's tennis team vice captain rejected Mizuka's application. "Just because you say you can play a bit of tennis doesn't mean you can join our team. We qualify the best of the best tennis players and we've already got a full regulars team, we don't need anymore of those Non-Regulars"  
"Then why don't we play and find out?" Mizuka challenged, glaring down at her. "Okay fine. But you'll be playing against Akiba Sotomichi" the vice captain grinned as she lead her out to the tennis court. "Stay here" She ran off to the boys and asked a boy, Mizuka recognized as one of Ochi's friends, as he glanced towards Mizuka's direction, grinned, and nodded.  
"This doesn't look good." Oshitari said as he looked up from his practice with Shishido. Shishido glanced at one of the courts and realized that Mizuka was on it with Akiba. "What's going on here?" Shishido demanded as they walked over. "We're having a one set match." Mizuka replied as Akiba spun his racquet. "Smooth." The racquet fell and it was Mizuka's serve. "I'll be ref." Oshitari offered as he went to climb onto the chair. "One set, Mizuka to serve." he called. _"Akiba is known for his aggressive play style."_ Oshitari sighed, looking as Mizuka bounced the ball, getting ready to serve. _"I wonder how she'll deal with this"_ he thought and realized she was going to use her left hand.  
"Hey little girl" Akiba called as she threw the ball up. "You're going to wish you never agreed to this match." Mizuka served and they rallied. He was more difficult to deal with than Ochi but she held in well. "30-15" Oshitari called as Mizuka made the lead. She threw up the ball and served again and hit a cord ball after Akiba returned her serve. He ran up to the net to hit back and she jumped up and hit a powerful drive volley. _"Shit!"_ Akiba thought as he began to swing his racquet as the ball zoomed past it. He then looked at Mizuka and completed his swing with full force, releasing it as it flew towards his target. It hit Mizuka in the stomach, knocking the air out of her and she flew back and slid across the ground. "Mizuka!" Shishido yelled from the side as she lay on her back and turned, kneeling on the ground coughing. "Sorry" Akiba laughed. "I lost my racquet."  
"No shit." Mizuka panted as she slowly stood up and shoved Akiba's racquet into his hand. "40-15" Oshitari called, looking at Mizuka with concern as she walked back towards the baseline. She had her racquet in her right hand now, bouncing the ball. Oshitari could see the ferocity in her eyes. She threw the ball in the air and smashed it powerfully. It was on Akiba's side before he could move and hit him in the testes. He cried out, falling onto the court holding his pants and curled up whimpering. "Game set, Mizuka wins" Oshitari said as he jumped down from the umpire chair and ran over with Shishido towards Mizuka as she walked off the court.  
"You passed! You can join the tennis team!" The vice captain said as she ran towards Mizuka. Mizuka stopped in front of her and glared. "Screw you and the team." She hissed. The vice captain stepped back and looked at her in fear. "Mizuka!" She turned to see Shishido and Oshitari catch up to her. "Are you okay?" Slightly nodding, she walked towards the tennis club room, Oshitari and Shishido exchanged glances and followed her. Shishido caught her as she collapsed right when they entered the club room, holding on to her stomach panting. "As I thought, that must have been a hard blow, taking it right at the front." Oshitari said as Shishido lifted her up and carried her towards the sofa. "I think it would be best if we kept this from Atobe." He added, watching Shishido set her down. "What! Why?! Atobe deserves the right to know! Akiba would get kicked off the team for sure!" Shishido looked down at Mizuka panting with the back of her hand on her eyes and her other hand on her stomach. "Atobe stands on top of Hyotei, Shishido. Think about what it would look like if he kept kicking people off the tennis team just because they hurt Mizuka. No offense." Oshitari said as he looked at Mizuka.  
"But-" Shishido began.  
"I agree." Mizuka croaked as she struggled to sit up. Shishido put his hand on her back for support.  
"Atobe is at the President's office now. In the meantime, why don't we bring you to the nurse's office?" Oshitari suggested. Nodding, Mizuka stood up and almost fell forward but Shishido grabbed her arm and put it around his shoulder. "Let's go." He grunted as they left the tennis room. They made their way towards the school and Shishido scooped her up and carried her. "W-Wait!" she stuttered. "We're moving too slow, it'll be faster like this. Do you want Atobe to find out?" He said as they walked faster. Mizuka didn't know what to say so they went in silence.

"So, how exactly did you get this?" The nurse asked Mizuka as she sat on the bed with her shirt off while Shishido and Oshitari waited on the other side of the covers. "I fell." Mizuka replied simply. "You fell." The nurse repeated as she examined Mizuka's abdomen. She gently touched it, feeling the area. Mizuka winced as the nurse barely applied pressure. "There's going to be a bruise." She said as she grabbed a handful of what looked like Vaseline and applied it to Mizuka stomach. "How exactly did you fall?" She asked as she wrapped white bandage around Mizuka.  
"I tripped and fell" Mizuka answered.  
"On your stomach." The nurse eyed her.  
"Why else would I tell you that it hurts there?" Mizuka snapped as the nurse pinned the bandage. "There, all done. Come back here tomorrow." The nurse said as Mizuka pulled on her shirt. "She's all done" The nurse called as she pulled open the covers and walked towards her office. "Are you alright?" Oshitari asked, looking at her walk towards them. "It hurts, but I'll live. The thing she put on my stomach feels like it's freezing it." She said as they exited the nurse's room. "You can walk now though right?" Shishido looked at Mizuka worriedly. "What does it look like I'm doing now?" She smiled, making him roll his eyes. "Lunch is almost over, we should go get changed and head to class" Oshitari suggested.

"I don't understand why we can't just tell Atobe." Shishido said as he waited with Oshitari for Mizuka to finish changing. "Because we shouldn't." Oshitari sighed, not wanting to argue with him. "Hey, look." Shishido nodded towards Mizuka coming out of the change room and was confronted by a group of girls. Oshitari pulled Shishido around a corner. "Why are we hiding?" Shishido looked at Oshitari in confusion. Oshitari put a finger to his lips and peeked around the corner.  
"Can I help you guys?" Mizuka looked at the girls curiously. "You're the one that's been hanging around Atobe-sama lately. We saw you go into his limo yesterday." Said one of the girls. "What's your point?" Mizuka asked. The girl blinked and seemed to be angered by her question. "Stay away from him!"  
"And stay away from Shishido too! We saw him carrying you into school! He's mine!" Chimed in another girl. Around the corner, Shishido blushed when he heard that. Mizuka could hardly stifle her laugh, her stomach ached as she did so. "We're warning you." Mizuka stepped back as the girls advanced towards her. "What's going on here?" They turned to see a teacher walk towards them, putting her hands on her hips. "We were just going to give Mizuka here a makeover." One of the girls said innocently. "Well, I don't want one." Mizuka said as she sidestepped them and walked away. "Why did we have to hide from that?" Shishido complained as they walked to catch up with Mizuka. "It looks like somebody's got a crush on you." Oshitari teased. "Shut up!" Shishido yelled.

Throughout her last two classes, she felt as if the sticky stuff the nurse had rubbed on her stomach was not working. The coldness had disappeared and it was back to pain. If anything, it hurt even more than before, throbbing as she sat in class. "Mizuka, are you alright? You're really pale" Her astronomy teacher said as he looked at her. "I'm fine, I'm just tired" She assured him before he continued his lesson. Oshitari and Shishido glanced at each other.  
_"We should tell Atobe."_ Shishido texted.  
_"We've already agreed not to."_ Oshitari replied.  
_"Even if we don't tell him, he will find out himself. He'll know she is injured just by looking at her. Did you forget about his insight?"_ Oshitari sighed as he read Shishido's text. It was true that Atobe possesses superior eyesight. He would probably find out right away. _"We'll take the risk."_ He wrote back.  
"Yushi! Ryo! Put your phones away before I take them from you!" The teacher ordered, making the class turn and laugh at them.  
By the end of class, Mizuka's head was on her arms, resting on the table. "Mizuka?" She felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Hmm?" She slowly raised her head to see Oshitari and Shishido looking at her anxiously. She was a bit damp from sweating, the pain in her stomach was unbearable. "I'll let you copy my notes tomorrow. Let's go, class is over." Oshitari said as she got up slowly and they headed to the door. She closed her eyes and breathed in, willfully pushing the pain away as they walked to the entrance of the school. "Hey." She felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her back. She turned to see Atobe looking down at her. "Atobe.." She hoped that the pain wasn't showing on her face. His eyes were studying her, slowly moving up and down her body. "Is something wrong?"  
Atobe lightly chuckled. "Funny you should ask me that." Oshitari leaned in and whispered in Atobe's ear. "She needs to rest." Figuring that he already found out about her. "Mizuka, my driver will take you home." He said as he took her towards the limo while Oshitari and Shishido waited for him. Taking her hand, he kissed it and pulled her into an embrace. Trying not to wince, she hugged him back. He lifted her face up, kissed her, and slowly released her, watching as she entered the limo and left before walking back to Oshitari and Shishido.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The News

"Do you guys have something to tell me?" Atobe asked, sitting on the sofa in the tennis club room, looking up at Oshitari and Shishido. "Somebody has a crush on Shishido here." Oshitari informed. Atobe arched an eyebrow as Shishido glared at Oshitari. "Very funny."  
"Even though that is fairly interesting, I know you guys are hiding something from me." Atobe said. "Well..." Oshitari glanced at Shishido. It was hard giving the news to Atobe, not knowing what they would expect.  
"Well what, Oshitari?"  
"Mizuka is injured." Shishido blurted.  
"I already know she's injured." Atobe sighed. "I just want to know how it happened."  
"She tried joining the girl's tennis team. They claim that she had to be tested before they accept her. Apparently, her test was a set match against Akiba." Oshitari explained. "Akiba, huh." Atobe's expression turned cold. "She won the match, by the way." Oshitari added, seeing the coldness.  
"So they weren't rumors after all." Atobe half said to himself. Oshitari and Shishido looked at him curiously. "What rumors?"  
"Did you really think the match would go unnoticed?" Atobe slightly frowned. "A girl was challenged to a set match against one of the members of the boy's tennis team. She won but not without rejecting the offer to join the tennis team. Am I wrong?"  
"That about sums it up." Shishido sighed. "How dense do you think I am? Huh?" Atobe glanced from one of his teammates to the other. "I am not the King of Hyotei for nothing."  
"You're not going to kick Akiba off the team are you?" Oshitari said then as an afterthought. "Not like I'm defending him or anything, just curious."  
"I am a King, not a cretin."  
"Considering that fact, I think it would be better to keep your romantic relationship more subtle to prevent any other problems." Oshitari suggested. "It seems it can't be helped." Atobe stood up and walked towards the door. "However, I don't want you guys keeping anything else that involves Mizuka from me." Shishido turned to Oshitari just as Atobe left. "I _told_ you we should have just told him." Oshitari shrugged, picking up his racquet. "It was worth a try." Walking to the courts, they see Akiba bowing to Atobe before going to run on the track.

"Miss. Tezuka, we have arrived." Mizuka opened her eyes, her stomach was throbbing like crazy. The driver got out and opened the door for her. "Thank you." She smiled weakly as she got out. He smiled, bowed and went back in the limo. She thumped against the door and fumbled for her keys, trying to deal with the pain. She gasped when the door opened and fell into her brother's arms. "Stop doing that."  
"Did you run here? You're sweating." Tezuka commented as he still held her in his arms. She was struggling not to shake but he could still feel a slight tremble from her. "What's wrong?" he looked down at her concernedly.  
"Nothing, nothing." she said as she walked in. Tezuka watched her slowly make her way up the stairs. "Are you hurt?"  
"It's a stomach ache." She assured him as she reached the top. "It's nothing." and walked into her room.

"What do you mean you're going to Germany!" Tezuka closed his eyes as his sister yelled at him. "I have to go. It's a rehabilitation center, famous for treating injured tennis players." He said and looked at her. "I've already spoken to mom and dad about it. They agreed for me to go. I'm leaving this Friday."  
"Injured? Is it from your match with Atobe?!" She clenched her fist, looking at him in anger. He came to her room shortly after her parents had come home. The throbbing was even worse now, she tried not to let it show on her face. "It's been hurting since my first year of high school." He explained. "So Atobe just made it worse?" She tightened her fists to prevent her hands from trembling too hard. The news her brother had told her made her feel sick.  
"I have to go." He repeated, not wanting to answer her.  
"Kunimitsu! Mizuka! Dinner's ready!" Their mother called.  
She turned away from her brother. "Whatever." She said as she climbed onto her bed. "Tell mom and dad I'm not hungry." She heard her brother sigh and the door close. _"Stupid Atobe!"_ Shutting her eyes, it felt like her abdomen was burning after doing many sit ups but worse, giving her a headache.

Mizuka awoke the next morning with her stomach aching. She went to the washroom and took off her shirt, unwrapping the bandage to see a bluish-black patch on her stomach. After showering, she went downstairs for breakfast. Her achy stomach took away her appetite, she took a bite of toast and set it down. "Are you alright, honey?" Her mother looked at her with concern. Mizuka nodded, staring at her bitten toast. "Your brother won't be coming with you to school today." Her mother said. She sat down beside Mizuka and rubbed her back. "I know it was big news hearing about Germany but I think he should go."  
"But why Germany? There are many places here where he can go to heal his arm." She argued though she knew there was no point. "I know it's hard dear but he has to go." Her mother patted her head as her father came into the kitchen. "I'm going to take the bus to school." Mizuka said as she stood up and left the house.

"Mizuka...Mizuka!" Oshitari gently shook her at the end of the lesson. He had been watching her stare at the chalkboard for half the lesson. "Huh?" Mizuka blinked back into focus. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking. What's up?"  
"Class is over." Oshitari said as he pointed towards the students packing up. "Oh, right." Mizuka nodded as she packed up too. She felt a vibrate and took out her phone to see a new text from Atobe. She glared at it and put it away without opening the message. "Let's go."  
_"How interesting."_ Oshitari wondered as he followed her.

"Thank god it's lunch time!" Mukahi cheered as they left English class. "It felt like he would never stop writing sentences down. It's a good thing we have no school activities today. I'm starving!"  
"Yes." Kabaji agreed. Oshitari glanced at Mizuka as she took out her phone, having another text message from Atobe and put it away without opening it. "Is something wrong, Mizuka?"  
"Oh, nothing. I'm just not feeling that hungry." Mizuka smiled. "Does your stomach still hurt?" He asked. "It just aches a bit, I'm fine." She said as they headed towards the cafeteria. "You're not going to eat anything?" Mukahi asked, downing a big chunk of steak. "She already said she's not hungry, stupid." Shishido said as he ate smaller pieces. "You're going to choke if you keep eating like that."

"Jirou-kun! Wake up!" The functions teacher tried shaking Jirou awake. "It's okay, I can do the question for him." Mizuka offered, getting up to go to the chalkboard to answer the question. "Very good, Mizuka!" The teacher congratulated her as she came back to her seat and went back to teaching the lesson. _"She is actually smart.__"_ Oshitari thought as he erased his answer and copied Mizuka's board answer. "Nice Mizuka!" Ayame said as she leaned over and copied her answer.

Feeling lightheaded, she stared at the floor as she walked with Oshitari towards astronomy. "Atobe" Mizuka looked up to see Atobe standing in front of their astronomy class. Oshitari nodded when Atobe glanced towards him. "I'll meet you inside." And entered the classroom. "You haven't been checking your phone have you?" Atobe smirked as he walked closer to her. "I need to go to class." Mizuka replied curtly. She walked past him but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. "Stop it. I don't want to talk to you right now." She said. "And why is that?" He put the back of his hand to her forehead. "You don't look so well." Feeling dizzy, she stepped back and fell. Atobe caught her and lifted her up, looking at her concernedly. All she heard was the sound of her name being called as darkness filled her eyes. "Atobe!" Atobe turned to see Shishido jogging up to them. "What happened?!"  
"Tell the teacher I'm taking her to the nurse's." Atobe ordered as he carried the unconscious Mizuka down the hallway. "Way to be subtle." Shishido snorted seeing many girls gasp when Atobe walked by.

Mizuka's eyes fluttered open to see Atobe and the nurse looking down at her. "There she is." The nurse smiled. "She's just hungry, that's all. She needs to eat and rest, I'll go grab some food." The nurse went towards her office. "Your stomach was growling while you were asleep." Atobe grinned and leaned down to give her a kiss but she turned her head. "What's wrong?" He looked at her curiously as the nurse came back with a platter of food. "I'll take that. Give us some privacy." Atobe ordered and the nurse nodded and closed the curtain. "Here, eat. It'll make you feel better." The smell of the food made Mizuka turn her head and give in to Atobe feeding her.  
"You have quite an appetite" Atobe teased as she finished the last bit of food. "Now are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Seeing that she wouldn't answer, he climbed on top of her and pinned one of her hands down. "Atobe!" She gasped at his sudden move. "I'll have to force it out of you." He smiled as he leaned down to kiss her neck and started unbuttoning her shirt. "S-Stop it.." She tried to push him off with her free hand with no luck. He pushed his hand under her bra and cupped her breast. "Atobe!" She yelped. "Then tell me what's wrong." Atobe demanded as he gazed at her. "It's all your fault." She whispered. "What?" Atobe rolled off to lay beside her, looking at her intently. "It's all your fault that Kunimitsu's going to Germany!"  
"Germany? Tezuka's going to Germany?"  
"It's because of you trying to destroy his arm during that match."  
Atobe scoffed. "He was already injured before I played him."  
"You made it worse." Mizuka glared at him. "Your match was two hours Atobe! _Two_ hours!"  
"If anything, I made him realize that he had to get his arm healed before it got worse."  
"I just came back from America, Atobe! I've been with my family for less than two weeks to find out that my brother's going to Germany!"  
Atobe paused, realizing the situation. "You're going to miss him." He said softly. Mizuka widened her eyes at his words and turned away from him. Atobe wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. "I'm sorry." He whispered. Mizuka's heart ached at that. She tried to fight back the tears that were filling her eyes. Atobe froze as he felt drops of tears fall on his arm. _"Mizuka.._" He closed his eyes and held her in tighter as she cried for the first time in many years.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Farewell, My Brother

"Wakey, wakey" Atobe opened his eyes and turned to see the nurse standing over them, he was still hugging Mizuka. "It's 3'oclock, class has ended." He blocked the nurse's hand to prevent her from waking Mizuka up. "I'll wake her up." The nurse nodded and left. He slowly turned her over, and brushed her face with the back of his hand. He kissed her softly at first, then more fiercely as she started to wake up. When she opened her eyes, he pushed his tongue into her mouth and leaned into her. She combed her hand through the back of his soft, silky, hair and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. "Atobe! Mizuka!" They pulled away to see the nurse looking at them embarrassed. Mizuka blushed as she realized her shirt was still unbuttoned. "Atobe-kun, would you please wait outside while I check up on Mizuka."  
"Fine." Atobe kissed Mizuka one last time before getting up. The nurse pulled the curtain around them as Atobe walked out. "Please unbutton the rest of your shirt, Mizuka." Mizuka did as she instructed and the nurse examined the bruise on her stomach. "Just as I suspected. There is a bruise." The nurse applied a bit of pressure and Mizuka bit back the pain. "You have to tell me if it hurts, Mizuka."  
"It hurts less than yesterday."  
"That's good."  
"That thing you put on me barely helped."  
"Hmmm..I think I have something better for it." The nurse stood up and walked around the curtains. "You can't go in yet, Atobe-kun." Mizuka heard him grunt in dissatisfaction. A moment later, the nurse returned with a package. She opened the box and pulled out a small green vial. "Take one during the day and one during the night. There are four of these in here that will last you two days." Nodding, Mizuka took the vial from the nurse and opened it. She see the strong fragrance of the compound seep out of it. She looked at the nurse uneasily who gave her a confident smile and gulped it. "Ugh! What is this?" She coughed, feeling the liquid burn down her throat, into her stomach. "It's a special medicine." The nurse winked at her. "Come back to see me if there aren't any changes." She buttoned her shirt, feeling the warmth in her stomach while the nurse pulled open the curtains. "We're done now. Leave quickly, I'm not getting paid to stay past 3:30." She jokingly said as she went to her office. Atobe walked over to Mizuka and pulled her up. "Now another person has seen you." He lifted her face up and leaned in. "Only I have fully seen you." And pressed his lips against hers as she blushed.

"Master Keigo, we have arrived." The driver announced as he pulled up on Mizuka's house. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Mizuka looked at him confusedly. "Must I always lead?" he smirked. He took her hand and walked towards her front door. "You're coming?" Surprised that he was going to enter her house today, she was lost before she realized he was waiting for her to open the door. He chuckled as she fumbled to put the key in the lock. "I'm home." She called when they walked in. She could see Atobe's eyes slowly go over the living environment before he saw her staring at him. "What?" He smiled and they turned to see Tezuka walking down the stairs. "Oh, hello Atobe." Tezuka greeted. "I wasn't expecting you."  
"Surprise, surprise" Atobe smirked. Tezuka glanced at his sister. "Mizuka, why don't you go make tea?" Nodding, Mizuka went to the kitchen while Tezuka lead Atobe towards the living room. "Is there any special reason why you're here?"  
"I can't give Mizuka a ride home?" Atobe smirked.  
"All the other times you gave her a ride home, you never entered." Tezuka remarked.  
Atobe sighed and looked him in the eye. "Under the circumstances of our last encounter, I think this one would be the one where I apologize."  
Tezuka stared at him, not knowing how to respond to his apology. "Anyway Tezuka, what time are you leaving for Germany?"  
"My flight takes off at 3:15 PM." Tezuka glanced at the wall clock.  
"Does Mizuka know?" Tezuka turned his gaze back to Atobe. "No. I'm not sure if it would be good for her to see me off." There was a brief silence before Mizuka entered with tea.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Atobe said as he readied to leave. Tezuka nodded and walked back up the stairs as Atobe took Mizuka's hand. He kissed her hand then pulled her closer, closing in for a kiss. "Don't forget to take that medicine." He whispered and brushed his lips against hers. "Farewell, beautiful." He opened the door to see Mizuka's mother and father standing there with the keys. "Why hello Mr. Tezuka, Mrs. Tezuka." Atobe slightly bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you but unfortunately I must leave now. Goodbye."  
"Goodbye Atobe-sama." Ayana smiled as he went towards his limo and left. "Kuniharu?" She pushed up her husband's slightly opened mouth. Mizuka giggled as she went upstairs to her room.

"Hmmm..Ochi Hiroyuki is absent again. As well as Akiba Sotomichi and Taku Kane." The English teacher announced after he took the attendance."As a reminder, there is an English test this Monday. Somebody please inform them."  
"What a drag" Mukahi whined as they exited English class. "You have all weekend to study." Oshitari reminded  
"Yeah, yeah. By the way, Mizuka, what are you going to do about the tennis team?" Mukahi asked. "Ouch! What was that for?" he glared at Shishido as he smacked him on the back of the head. "Everybody knows she beat Akiba." They glanced towards Mizuka who was walking unmindful before they heard the sound of her name. "Mizuka!" Mizuka snapped back to reality as Ayame ran towards her. "Come eat lunch with me!"  
"That's Ayame, right?" Mukahi watched puzzled as Ayame dragged Mizuka away. "Yeah.." Shishido glanced at Oshitari who gave him a shrug.

As Mizuka walked towards the school entrance, two boys came in front of her, blocking her path. It was finally Friday, the day her brother was leaving for Germany. "Go on a date with us." Grinned one of the boys. "Yeah, we'll share you." His friend added as they closed in on her. "No, thank you." Mizuka stepped back as he reached out his hand. Atobe grabbed Mizuka and pulled her against him. "A-Atobe!" The boys stuttered. "She's mine. Go away." Atobe said impatiently. "Yes, sorry!" They bowed and scurried away. He pulled Mizuka towards his limo and they got in. "Go." Atobe ordered. "I'm getting tired of this" Atobe sighed as he untied his tie. "That's the fourth time this week."  
"Sorry.." Mizuka apologized. "It's not your fault you're so beautiful." Atobe smiled and he grabbed her tie, gently tugging her towards him. He kissed her while untying her tie and put his tie in it's place. "There." She looked at the bottom of her tie; _Atobe K. _She watched him tie her tie around his neck. "What?" He looked at her stare at him. "Nothing." He grinned and pulled her close to him. She looked out the window to see a different scenery than their normal route. "Atobe, where are we going?"  
"You'll see." He smiled. A moment later, she realized that they were heading towards the airport.

"I'm going to save you a ticket to the nationals. Make sure you come back ." Oishi said as he and Coach Ryuzaki bid goodbye to Tezuka. "Kunimitsu!" Tezuka's back shot up at the sound of her voice. He turned to see a blur of brown hair as his sister jumped onto him, giving him a hug. "Mizuka!" he dropped his luggage and wrapped his arms around her. "Mizuka?!" Oishi and Coach Ryuzaki said in unison.

_"Passengers en route to Frankfurt, please come as soon as you can." _The announcement came.

Mizuka slowly released her brother. "Bye, Kunimitsu." she sadly said. Tezuka picked up his luggage and lightly patted his sister's head. "I won't be gone forever."  
"Get better fast so you can face me again." They turned to see Atobe walking towards them. "A-Atobe?!" Oishi and Coach Ryuzaki gawked. "I know, I know. I shine brighter than light itself." Atobe grinned. "Atobe.." Tezuka nodded and turned to walk through the gates.

The limo-ride was a quiet one. Mizuka stared out the window most of the time, watching the scenery pass by. "Master Keigo, we have arrived."  
Atobe got out and offered Mizuka his hand. As she stepped out, she realized that they were at the mall. "Come on." Atobe smiled as he held her hand and entered the mall.  
"No, it's okay" Mizuka shook her head as Atobe showed her a glamorous white dress. "Just try it on. I'll buy it if it looks good on you."  
"But-" Atobe put a finger to her lips. "It's alright." he said as he handed her the dress. "Do you want me to help you change?" At that, she went to the change room. He urged her to try on more clothing and bought every one of them seeing as they all looked good on her. _"Is this really okay?"_ Mizuka looked uneasily at the ever growing shopping bags. "It's fine" Atobe put an arm around Mizuka and pulled her against him. He gave her an assuring smile when she looked up at him. The driver had followed them to every store, carrying the bags of whatever Atobe bought. He had to go back and forth to the limo to put the shopping bags. Atobe could see that Mizuka had cheered up, making him feel a lot better on their ride back home. "You're staying at my place for the weekend" Mizuka widened her eyes at his words. "I've already informed your parents."  
"Thank you, Atobe." She smiled and hugged him.

They pulled up at his mansion and entered as his servants greeted them. "Master Keigo, is there anything you need?" Sebastian asked as he trailed behind them. "Bring us dinner at the usual time." Atobe said as Sebastian stopped and bowed. Atobe brought her to the same bedroom and guided her to the bathroom and started unbuttoning her shirt. "Atobe-" She started but he pushed his lips against hers as he took off her blouse. Putting his hand on the back of her head, he pulled her closer as he pushed down her skirt and underwear before moving to take off her bra. He carried her towards the shower and set her down. Stripping himself, he joined her and pulled the covers. Atobe turned on the shower, using his body as a barrier for her as the water started, waiting for it to heat up before letting the water go through to her. He gently pushed her against the wall and lifted her head up, softly putting his lips against hers. She slid her hands up and combed through his wet hair, pulling him closer. He could see the nervousness in her eyes as he lifted her leg up and positioned himself in between her legs and slowly inserted. She whimpered at the sting and gripped his arms as he pushed in and out. "A-Atobe...it-" Atobe pushed his tongue into her mouth to play with hers, suppressing her whimpers. Her whimpers gradually turned into moans as the pain subsided, making her feel pleasure she had never felt before as she held onto his neck. Putting his hand under her other leg, he hoisted her up, pushing in on her faster against the wall. He broke the kiss and started kissing her neck, allowing her to moan aloud. "You..are mine.." He breathed into her ear as she moaned. "A-Atobe" She panted and he kissed her, going faster. He finally shoved in one last time and stayed there.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Lessons

"Kiss me." Mizuka widened her eyes at Atobe's words. "What?"  
"I want you to kiss me." He leaned closer to her on the bed, his hand on the curve of her waist. "I always kiss you."  
"But I kiss you too." She whispered as he pulled her closer, their faces barely an inch away. Atobe smiled lightly and laid down on his pillow. "Let's get some sleep." He gazed at her as she lay on his arm, watching her fall asleep.

Mizuka opened her eyes the next morning to see Atobe still asleep beside her. Slowly, she raised herself and brushed her lips against his. Atobe opened his eyes to the feeling of her soft lips. "Give me a real kiss." He whispered when she pulled away. "Can you close your eyes?" He chuckled at her request and slid his hand to cup her face. "But I want to see you kiss me." He smiled as she slightly pouted and closed his eyes. "Fine." He felt her lean closer to him, her breathing on his mouth before she pressed her lips against his. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and felt his tongue meet hers partway. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him, deepening the kiss. Sitting up, he lifted her and placed her down onto him. She moaned into his mouth, combing her hands through his hair as he hugged her closer, pumping her up and down. He turned and pushed her down onto the bed, pushing in and out of her.

Mizuka daydreamed, looking out the window and smiled as she thought about her weekend with Atobe. "Mizuka-san." She blinked back to focus to see the English teacher standing over her. "Oh, you're on the last question." He said as he looked down on her test paper. "Why don't you finish up before you start daydreaming?"  
"You're on the last question already?!" Mukahi exclaimed, looking at the clock as the class began whispering. It had only been 20 minutes since the test had started.  
"Class, quiet down. The test is still in session." The teacher said as the chattering died down.

"Atobe's acting quite cheerful, isn't he?" Oshitari watched along with Kabaji as Atobe did multiple service aces during practice with Shishido. "Yup."  
"You're amazing, buchou!" Jirou shouted excitedly. "I wonder if it's because of Mizuka." Oshitari wondered aloud. Hearing her name, Atobe grinned and finished his match with Rondo Towards Destruction. "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na." Shishido rolled his eyes as he walked towards the net to shake hands with Atobe.

"Sweetie, where did you get all these clothing?" Mizuka's mother asked amazed when she watched Mizuka hang the clothes up. "Atobe got them for me."  
"They look gorgeous." Her mother came into the room and picked a dress up, examining the beauty. "Is he your boyfriend now?"  
"Did somebody say boyfriend?" Her father's head popped at the doorway. "It's Atobe-sama, isn't it?"  
"Go away, dad." Mizuka blushed and tried to hide her smile. "There's nothing to be shy about." Her dad patted her on the back. "Great choice." Her mother gave him a disapproving look. "Mizuka, your brother has sent us an email. I think he'll call you sometime this week." She walked over to give Mizuka a hug, seeing as she looked saddened by hearing about Tezuka. "I'm alright, mom." She smiled as her mother and father left the room.

"Woah Mizuka!" Mukahi had come over to her desk to see her test results. "You got perfect!" Oshitari and Shishido leaned closer to see her paper. "I guess living a year in America really helped didn't it? And Kabaji, you're not bad either. You came from England didn't you? That's why you were able to jump a grade just for English."  
"Yup" Kabaji nodded.  
"Would Taku-kun and Mizuka-san please come to my desk." The English teacher announced as the class ended. He looked up to see not only Taku and Mizuka but Oshitari, Shishido, Mukahi and Kabaji standing behind them. "I didn't call for you Oshitari-kun, Shishido-kun, Mukahi-kun, Kabaji-kun."  
Oshitari patted Mizuka's shoulder before he nodded for the others to leave the classroom with him. After seeing the door close, the teacher turned his gaze back to Taku and Mizuka. "Mizuka, congratulations, you scored perfect on the English test. On the other hand, Kane, you scored the worst."  
"What's your point?" Taku scowled. The teacher looked at him. "My point is that if you keep failing these tests, your mark will stay as it is, a fail. Summer vacation is nearing and soon after that, exams. Now Mizuka, would it trouble for me to ask you to tutor him during after school hours?"  
"I don't know.." Mizuka looked from Taku back to the teacher. "If it's not you, the next best person would be... Munehiro. He hardly speaks when I ask him to but his mark is fairly high. I could write you a letter of recommendation to the university you want." Bribed the teacher.  
"It'd be really nice of you." Taku added and smiled at her. He looked like the nice bad boy skipper with his dyed blond spiky hair and ear piercings. She smiled back and agreed. "Alright."

"What did he want?" Oshitari asked as they walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria. He and the others waited outside for her. "He wants me to tutor Taku." Mizuka said. "He wants you to tutor Taku?" Shishido looked at her bewildered. "That's what she said, stupid." Mukahi pushed down on his head and ran off as Shishido chased him. "Well, it was either me or Kabaji." She continued.  
"Yes." Kabaji nodded.  
"Kabaji?" Oshitari turned towards his large companion. "Yes."  
"Well anyway, I think it would be better to keep this one from Atobe."  
"Why?" She looked at him curiously. "Because Taku is...not what you see him as. Plus, he's one of Ochi's friends. Don't you remember him?" She shook her head. "They hardly come to English class so I guess that's why."  
"I don't want to keep things from Atobe. Why can't I just tell him?"  
"Yes." Kabaji agreed with Mizuka.  
"It would be a good idea to keep it from him. Atobe has more than enough things to handle." Oshitari said as they entered the cafeteria. "He is the school's representative, president of the student council and captain of the boy's tennis team."  
"Okay fine." Mizuka sighed. "But Atobe normally takes me home before he goes back to practice. What do I tell him?"  
"Just leave that to me." Oshitari gave her an assuring smile.

Atobe had been waiting for them in the cafeteria, sitting down at a table surrounded by girls. "Atobe-sama, can we eat lunch with you?", "Atobe-sama, I made you lunch!", "Atobe-sama, I have tickets to a concert this weekend!" He gazed amused at their requests before he noticed Mizuka enter the cafeteria. "I already have plans." He rejected them as he stood up and walked towards her. The girls sighed in disappointment as they watched him go. "Oh Atobe, you're not at the president's office today?" Oshitari asked as he neared them. "I already looked through the reports of each club." Atobe took Mizuka's hand and lead her towards the table Shishido and Mukahi were sitting at as Oshitari and Kabaji followed behind them. _"I guess he decided to keep it public."_ Oshitari glanced at the girls who watched them.

"That girl, she's always with him. She's so lucky, I wish I was in her spot." Kanna gazed at Atobe and Mizuka. "Snap out of it." Yuki waved her hand in front of Kanna's view. "I think she's using him." Ayame came to sit down at the table. Yuki, Kanna, and the others turned their gaze towards Ayame. "What? Doesn't it seem like it? She must have done something for him to be around her so much." Ayame flipped out her phone to show them a picture. "See. Look at all those shopping bags. Do you really think she's able to afford all those clothing?"

"She has to clean the classroom for the rest of the week?" Atobe arched an eyebrow as he looked at Oshitari and Shishido. They were standing on the bleachers while the tennis members practiced. "And possibly for the rest of the month." Shishido added and received an odd look from Atobe. "The rest of the month?" Atobe repeated. "How did it become like this?" Oshitari pondered for a moment before Shishido answered. "She corrected the teacher." He gave Shishido a wry look. Atobe chuckled and turned to walk down the courts towards Kabaji.

Mizuka glanced up at the clock. It was almost 5:55 PM. "I think we're good for now." She said as she started packing up her things. Taku lay on his arm on the desk, staring at her. "I'm Taku Kane." He stuck out his hand. Mizuka shook his hand and he pulled her closer to him making her face close to his. "Nice to meet you." She pulled her hand away and stood up, backing away as he approached her. "You're very pretty." Mizuka turned when she felt her back hit the wall. She looked back and saw that Taku was right in front of her. "I'm not going to hurt you." He reached his hand towards her face and she ducked under it and went out the door. "How cute." Taku grinned.

Mizuka saw Atobe with Oshitari and Shishido standing near the entrance of the school. "Hey" She greeted as she neared them.  
"Where were you?" Oshitari and Shishido exchanged glances when Atobe ask that.  
"I was..." She looked behind Atobe to see Oshitari and Shishido acting out what looked to be sweeping. Atobe lifted her face towards him. "You're talking to me, not to them."  
"I was sweeping?"  
"Are you asking me or are you telling me?"  
"I was sweeping. Cleaning." Mizuka confirmed.  
"Why?"  
Mizuka's eyes looked towards Oshitari and Shishido but Atobe leaned down closer to her, centimeters away from her face. "The class was dirty." She guessed. It surprised her when he pressed his lips against hers before taking her towards the limo.

Atobe sighed in the hot shower as he got home Wednesday after school. Mizuka had insisted for him to go home without her because she had to stay at school. _"What is she hiding from me?"_

"Meet me at the tennis courts at lunch?" Atobe kissed Mizuka's hand at the classroom door. "Okay, I'll see you later." She smiled as he released her and entered the class. "I see you've decided to make your relationship public." Atobe turned to see Oshitari looking at him with amusement on his face. "I do as I wish. Don't be late for practice." He turned and walked down the hallway. _"That guy, he always goes at his own pace."_ Oshitari watched Atobe before entering the classroom."We're going to head out first" Oshitari said as he got up to leave. Mizuka nodded and waved as Oshitari left English with Shishido, Mukahi, and Kabaji.

She walked down the hallway, heading towards the tennis courts. Suddenly, the doors to one of the classrooms opened and a hand grabbed her and pulled her in. She fell on the floor and looked up to see Ochi grinning down at her. "Well, well, look who decided to drop by?" She yelped as he grabbed her arm and shoved her against the blackboard. He held her hands above her with one hand and used his other to start unbuttoning her blouse. "Stop it!" she cried and he forced his lips onto hers. She turned her head, trying to break free of the kiss. "You got me kicked off the tennis team and I'm going to make you pay." He growled as he sucked on her neck. She brought her leg up and kicked him in the stomach. He released her and stepped back coughing. She took her chance to dash out of the room, fumbling with the buttons as she sprinted down the hallways towards the tennis courts.

Mizuka ran into the clubroom, slamming the door behind her. "What are you doing in here?" Her back shot up and she turned to see Shishido behind her. "N-Nothing. I'll leave." She turned to open the door. "I didn't mean for you to go. I was just asking what you were doing in here. Atobe's outside." He informed her and realized she was shaking. "Hey...are you okay?" He turned her to face him. She nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm fine."  
"Okay..if you say so" he said as he left the room. "Go rest on the couch."  
She started towards the couch and froze when she heard his voice. "Why are you in here?" Atobe walked towards her and hugged her from behind. He felt her stiffen and turned her around. "Hey, it's me. What's wrong?" She tried avoiding his gaze as he lifted her face towards him. "Why are you shaking? Are you cold? Your button is in the wrong place." He moved his hand to fix it but she stepped back and pushed his hand away. "No, don't!" She slowly looked up at him and noticed that he was staring at her neck. She quickly used her hand to cover it but he pushed her against the wall and pulled her hand away. "Who did this to you?" He tightened his grip around her wrist, making her wince. "Atobe, it hurts! Let go!" She tried to pry his hand off. "Answer me." He demanded. "Stop it!" she cried as she tried to slap him. He caught her hand and pulled her close. "Just tell me." he sighed, loosening his grip as she looked up at him. "Ochi.."  
"He touched you?"  
"I-I got away before he did."  
Atobe pulled her into a tight hug. "Just tell me next time. Don't hide anything from me." He lifted her face and leaned in for a kiss. "No!" She pushed him away, leaving a hurt expression on his face. "Ochi..kissed.." Atobe grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. "Then we'll just have to purify it." He bent down and brushed his lips against hers. She was stiff at first, staring at him but he used his hand to cover her eyes and kissed her softly. She slowly moved her hand to his shoulder, gradually responding to his kiss. He moved a hand to her back and his other hand to the back of her head and pulled her closer for a deeper kiss.

Atobe gave Mizuka a hug before he kissed her hand. "I'm okay." She gave him a small smile before she left with Oshitari. "Hey Atobe, did something happen?" Shishido asked as he walked along the hallway with Atobe. "Nothing I want to talk about." Atobe sighed. They stopped when they heard a voice. "Her lips are as soft as I imagined." They turned to see Ochi leaning against the wall with a maleficent look on his face. "You're a dirty bastard" Shishido started towards Ochi. "Stop it, Shishido." Atobe walked on. "Maybe I'll stick my tongue in her mouth next time." Atobe halted in his steps. "You better shut your mouth Ochi. There won't ever be a next time." Atobe turned his cold dark blue eyes towards him. "Let's go." Shishido followed Atobe into an empty classroom. "Atobe, this isn't-" he flinched when Atobe punched the wall. "DAMN IT!" Atobe groaned. "Atobe.." Shishido saw the dent where he had thrown his punch with blood now trickling down on it. "Why is she hiding things from me? Why doesn't she just tell me right away?" Atobe's voice rose in anger and frustration. "Calm down, Atobe." Shishido said softly. "Calm down? He kissed her. _Touched_ her." Atobe fists were shaking. "Atobe!" Atobe took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Atobe was waiting outside of Mizuka's last class when she opened the door. "Atobe.."  
He took her hand as Oshitari and Shishido appeared at the door. "Wait, I can't, I have to-" She tried to pull her hand back.  
"Not today." Atobe's grip tightened slightly as he pulled her along the hallway.  
"Go, now." He ordered his driver when they got into the limo. Mizuka stared at him as he looked out the window. She noticed that his right hand was wrapped in a bandage. "Atobe, what happened?" She gently touched his hand and unwrapped the bandage. There was a bruise forming around a cut along his knuckles. She went through the small cabinets in search of the antibiotic and poured some on a napkin, dabbing it onto the cut. He didn't flinch or tense as she continued, he just turned and watched her as she slowly wrapped the bandage back on. He moved his hand to the back of her head and leaned closer to her. "Atobe?" She whispered and he pressed his lips against hers, pushing her down and pulled her closer. She brushed her hand on his cheek and he looped his hand with hers. He stopped and just stared at her, studying every feature on her face and leaned closer. "I don't want anybody else touching you." She stared at him when he shakily said that. "Atobe..I'm sorry.." Atobe sat up and laughed. "Sorry? For what? For lying to me? I know you're not cleaning the class room after school. Who's stupid idea was that?"  
"I just didn't want you worrying about me."  
"Worrying about you? You not telling me is what's worrying me. Why did you hesitate to tell me about Ochi?" Atobe struggled to keep his voice from rising.  
"Because I was scared! I was shocked, okay? Nothing like that has ever happened to me before!"  
"You're so stupid, Mizuka! Why don't you actually look around you and see what guys want to do to you." Shocked at what he just said, he tried to reach out for her hand but she pulled away, backing away from him.  
"Master, Keigo-"  
"What!"  
"We have arrived.."  
Mizuka turned and opened the door, leaving the limo and running into her house. Atobe sat in frustration before telling the driver to drive off. Mizuka stood on the other side of her door, her eyes stinging. She felt her phone vibrating, looked at it and picked it up. "Mizuka?" It took a while before she took a deep breath and replied. "Hey Kunimitsu, how's Germany?"  
"It's fine. How about you? How are things?" Tezuka heard her breath come in short puffs. "Mizuka, what's wrong?" Mizuka crouched down on the floor, tears surfacing her eyes. "I just miss you so much."

Atobe arrived the next morning for the second half of practice. "Atobe-sama, we came to watch you practice!" A bunch of girls were awaiting for him by the bleachers. He walked past them without giving them any notice. The tennis team members lined up once they noticed him arrive. "Good morning!" Atobe gazed at them with a stoic expression and turned to leave the court. "Practice at lunch."  
"Hey Atobe!" Atobe turned to see Shishido and Oshitari run up to him. "What is up with you?"  
"Nothing of the sort. I have to look through some reports. See you guys at lunch practice."  
"Something must have happened between Mizuka and Atobe." Oshitari watched along with Shishido as Atobe walked past a bunch of girls, waving them off.

Ayame had waited for Mizuka in front of her English classroom. "Hey, Mizuka! Come eat lunch with me!" She grabbed Mizuka's arm and pulled her along the hallway before Mizuka had a chance to reply. "Ayame's acting so weird." Oshitari walked along with the senior regulars. "Maybe she just wants to be friends with Mizuka." Mukahi suggested. "That's what's so weird." Oshitari looked at Shishido who gave him a shrug.

"Oh shoot! Mizuka, I forgot something! I'll meet you there!" Ayame waved to Mizuka as she skipped the opposite way. Mizuka walked down the hallway going towards the cafeteria. She looked up and saw the familiar faces of the girls that had surrounded her once before. "Atobe looks upset today, it's probably because of you." One of the girls said as they surrounded Mizuka. Another girl pushed her into the classroom and she fell on the floor. "You're just using him!" She heard snickering behind her and turned to see Ochi and Akiba there. Ochi came up and grabbed her hair, pulling her up. "Stop it!" She cried as he covered her mouth and used is other hand to hold her wrist. "We warned you." The girl said as Akiba came up to her and turned her face towards him. "You have such a pretty face." Mizuka elbowed Ochi and tried to push Akiba away as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Why are you guys doing this? Do you really think this will make Atobe happy?" She yelled as Akiba moved his hand to cover her mouth. "Alright, enough of this. Let's get on with it." Ochi grinned as Akiba sat down on the chair and pulled her down on his lap. "Hey, wait. I thought we were just going to scare her." One of the girls stepped forward and Ochi pushed her back. "Go away unless you want to take her place. Get out! Now!" Ochi growled as the girls ran out of the room. He slammed the door and walked back to the struggling Mizuka.

"Kanna! This has gone too far!" Yuki yelled at her. Kanna glanced uneasily at the door. "I didn't mean for it to go like that." The other girls stared at her. "Let's go!" The girls followed after Yuki as she ran down the hallway.

"Let go!" Mizuka tried to fight off Akiba. He held back her arms as Ochi came towards them and lifted her face. She glared at him as he grinned, leaning down closer to her face. "Aw, don't be like that. We're going to have so much fun."

"Atobe!" Atobe, Shishido, and Oshitari stopped and looked towards the bunch of girls running towards them. "I'm practicing right now." Atobe said as he walked towards the courts. "It's Mizuka!" He stopped and turned back to them as they explained.

"Stop it!" Mizuka struggled as Ochi pulled her tie. He unknotted it and pulled it off, throwing it aside. "No!" Mizuka tried to reach out for it only to be pushed back by Ochi as he started to unbutton her shirt. "She smells good." Akiba sniffed her hair and started sliding his tongue up and down her neck. He moved his hand down, feeling her thigh and slowly moved his hand up her skirt. "STOP!" Mizuka screamed and kicked Ochi. He flew back and crashed on the ground. "Fuck! That hurt!" He growled as he got up. She elbowed Akiba's face and he released her, falling back in the chair. She took her chance to run but Ochi jumped at her and she fell, banging the side of her face on the floor. "You're gonna get it bitch." Ochi growled as he flipped her and struck her face, ripping open the rest of her shirt. She squealed as he groped her breasts, squeezing hard. Trying to push him off, she used her fist to punch his face her hardest. He cried aloud and she turned, trying to crawl away. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back, pinning her down and pulled on her shirt. Her back arched back as she felt the shirt slip off her shoulders and slide down her arms. "Stop it, please!" She cried, panicking and thinking of the only name that came in her mind. "Atobe!"  
"There's no point calling his name." Ochi sneered.

Atobe sprinted towards the room the girls told him with Shishido and Oshitari right behind him. "Why are you girls so stupid!" Shishido yelled as the girls ran behind them. Atobe dashed down the hallway. His heart skipped a beat when he heard the cry of his name.

"Atobe!" Mizuka clawed on the floor as Ochi began tearing the shirt down the back. Akiba got up, rubbing his eye and walked towards them. The door slammed open and they all paused. Atobe stood staring at the scene. Mizuka lay on her stomach panting, her shirt torn with Ochi on top of her. "Get off her." Atobe ordered as he walked towards them. His presence seemed to send a chill throughout the room. Ochi obeyed, stunned by his sudden appearance and backed away. Atobe picked her up under her arms and set her standing up. Taking off his jersey, he wrapped it around her and carried her towards the door, setting her on the ground outside the classroom. She wouldn't meet his eyes as he stared at her face. "Take her to the nurse's. I'll be there." Atobe turned back towards the classroom. "A-Atobe, what are you doing?" Shishido asked as he knelt down beside Mizuka. He gulped when Atobe looked back at them. His expression was ice cold, nothing he had ever seen before. Atobe was furious. "Go." And he slammed the door behind him. Shishido stared at the closed door as Oshitari came and knelt beside him. "Shishido. I think we should bring her now." Shishido looked at Oshitari as he nodded towards Mizuka. She was trembling, hugging her knees. "Mizuka" He said softly and she turned to look at him. Her eyes were wide, full of fear. Shishido put an arm around her and gently pulled her against him. "Shishido." Oshitari called him again. Shishido nodded and lifted Mizuka up.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Patience

"Why isn't the nurse here at a time like this?" Shishido angrily said when they entered the nurse's office. "Calm down." Oshitari studied Mizuka who stood near Shishido. Atobe's jersey hung around her shoulders as she held the front across her chest. Her trembling had stopped but her eyes were still wide with fear. "Mizuka, why don't you get changed?" He gently asked her. Seeing her nod, Oshitari pulled Shishido with him. "We'll be right outside." And pulled the covers around the bed.

Atobe stood at the door of the nurse's office. He looked down at the tie he was holding in his left hand and clenched his fist, feeling the sting along his red knuckles before stuffing it in his pocket. He took a deep breath before he opened the door.  
"Atobe!" Shishido started. Oshitari put his hand on Shishido's shoulder and glanced at the curtains when they heard Mizuka's breath draw short. Atobe had a bruise on his cheek, his former cut along his knuckles had reopened and were bleeding. He walked around the corner to the sink, wet a paper towel and started dabbing at the cut. "Atobe! Are you alright?" Shishido and Oshitari came up behind him.  
"I'm fine."  
"What happened to Ochi and Akiba?"  
"They'll live." Atobe grabbed a paper towel and wrapped it around his right hand. "Atobe, I think Mizuka needs you right now." Oshitari said. Atobe walked back and stood on the other side of the covers. He stared at it before slowly pulling it open. Mizuka sat on the bed with his jersey on, the sleeves of it covered her hands with her shirt beside her, folded to the best ability. He walked straight towards her and wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him as he moved his hand to cup her face, sliding his hand over the bruise on her cheek as she did the same to his. He held her hand and pressed it against his cheek before moving it to his mouth to kiss it. "I'm sorry." They both whispered simultaneously. Atobe smiled and pulled her closer to him. He felt her shudder and looked down to see her move her hands to her face as she attempted to cover her cries. "Shishido." Oshitari signaled to the door. Shishido took a glance at Atobe and Mizuka before he left the room with Oshitari.  
Atobe gently pushed Mizuka down on the bed. "Mizuka.." He lightly tugged at her hands, trying to move them from her face. "N-No..I-I can't let you see me like this.." Mizuka's voice trembled.  
"If you don't move your hands, you won't be able to breathe."  
Mizuka shifted her hands to only cover her eyes as her breath came out in puffs. Atobe moved on top of her and kissed her forehead, then her hands, then her nose, pausing as he saw drops of tears slip down her hand. She felt him slide his tongue across her lips and slowly opened them to let his tongue enter her mouth. She gradually allowed him to pry her hands away. "Open your eyes." Atobe whispered.  
"I-I can't-"  
"It's okay." Atobe cupped her face as she slowly opened her watery eyes. "You're beautiful." Atobe leaned in and softly kissed her.

"Fuck.." Ochi let out a breath. He was sitting against the wall, his face throbbing from the amount of times Atobe had punched him. Akiba lay sprawled on the ground panting and holding his bleeding nose. "You two..look horrible." They looked up to see Ayame and Taku standing at the doorway. "Oh shut up." Ochi growled. "You guys didn't finish the job." Ayame walked towards him. "You were supposed to-"  
"I know what we were supposed to do!" He winced as he struggled to stand up. "Your little friends snitched on us."  
"Yeah..I know."  
"I got a good grab at her boobs though." He laughed. "They're soft as hell."  
"I suppose that's good enough." Ayame sighed. "That'll be enough to..scar her for a bit." She lifted her hand to ruffle his hair. "Don't touch me." Ochi pushed her hand away and glared at Taku. "Where the hell were you?"  
"Me? I was..busy." Taku grinned as he came to stand beside Ayame and slid his hand around her waist. "With..other things." He ducked when Ochi swung a punch at him. "Don't get mad at me because you two got your asses kicked by Atobe."  
"Whatever." Ochi groaned. "Ah god.." Akiba used the table to help him stand. "I think my nose is broken..And my ribs."  
"Suck it up." Taku slapped him in the back and stepped back when Akiba flung his arm at him.

"This cut will take some time to heal." The nurse said as she wrapped a bandage around Atobe's hand. "Mizuka you're here more often than the students who have been here for 3 years." The nurse examined Mizuka's face. Atobe sat beside her, his hand on her waist, watching as the nurse applied cream on the bruise. She then turned to Atobe and did the same. "Did you two get into a fight?"  
"Something like that." Atobe said.  
"By the way, there is a cluster of girls outside the office. Oshitari-kun and Shishido-kun are blocking them from getting through. Do you guys know something about that?"  
Atobe felt Mizuka stiffen and pulled her closer to him. "Are we done here?" The nurse gave him a disapproving look and sighed. "Yes, we're done."

They opened the door to see Oshitari and Shishido standing there, blocking the entrance from a bunch of girls. "Atobe!"  
"Go away." Atobe put his arm around Mizuka as he walked down the hallway. "Wait! We're sorry!"  
Atobe halted and turned. "Sorry? Is that some kind of joke? Look what you guys have done." The girls backed away as Atobe walked towards them. "Atobe, calm down." Oshitari tried to say. Mizuka ran forward and hugged Atobe from behind. "Atobe, stop. The only reason they did that was because they really like you."  
"That doesn't mean they should do it."  
"I know but they went to tell you didn't they? They didn't mean for it to go like that. They're sorry for it and I accept their apology." Mizuka slowly released Atobe as one of the girls walked forward. "My name is Kusaka Yuki." She said as she stuck out her hand. Mizuka smiled and shook her hand. "Tezuka Mizuka."

Atobe dropped Mizuka off to her afternoon classes before going to his. The teachers looked at Mizuka questioningly as she wore Atobe's jersey to class. Atobe shook his head slightly at the teachers when they were about to question them.

Oshitari and Shishido gazed at Atobe and Mizuka as they sat in the limo along with the other regulars. "I don't get it. Why did she accept their apology?"  
"Accepting their apology means acknowledging that the fault is theirs. It is better to accept it than leave it, letting them think that you're holding a grudge. Besides, she might gain them as companions."  
"Friends? Why would you want people like that as friends?" Shishido looked at Oshitari bewildered. "Because the bond of friendship will be stronger. It also will benefit Atobe."  
"I still don't get your logic." Shishido shook his head.  
They had finally arrived at Mizuka's house after dropping everybody else off. "Atobe.." Atobe looked at Mizuka who was gazing down at her hands. "What is it?"  
"Can I stay with you tonight?"  
Atobe lifted her face to look at him. "Of course you can."

"M-Master Keigo, what happened?" Sebastian gaped when he saw Atobe and Mizuka enter the mansion. "What?"  
"T-The bruise, Master." Sebastian looked from Atobe to Mizuka as he spotted the bruise on her cheek too. "Oh, my."  
"Just bring us dinnner."  
"Yes, Master Keigo." Sebastian bowed as he watched Atobe guide Mizuka along the hallway.

"This has become our own personal bedroom." Atobe grinned. After they had finished dinner, he pulled Mizuka along with him to the bathroom. He pressed his lips against hers and lifted her onto the counter, pulling her closer as she sat there. Her hand moved to stop his hand that was unzipping the jersey but he pushed through, unzipping the whole way. She widened her eyes as he moved his kisses to her neck. "S-Stop.."

_"She smells good" Akiba sniffed her hair and started sliding his tongue up and down her neck._

She gasped when he cupped her breast, the flashback of Ochi came to her mind and she shoved him. He gazed at her with worried eyes. "S-Sorry.." She whispered. Atobe pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head. "_They got to her.._"  
Mizuka felt his arms tightening around her. "A-Atobe." Atobe heard her breathe and quickly released her. "I'll go get some clothes for you." He kissed her before leaving.

Mizuka sighed after she turned off the shower and opened the covers. She let out a small scream when she saw Atobe and pulled the covers back. "Am I really that scary?" Atobe smiled as he pulled the covers open. He stood and stared as the water trickled down her body. She blushed and moved her arms up to cover her breasts. "You don't have to be that shy around me." Atobe wrapped a white towel around her and pulled her towards him, using the towel to dry her body. He stopped when she hugged him. "My English teacher asked me to tutor Taku after school. I'm sorry for not telling you."  
Atobe's body heated up from the feeling of her bare body against him. His hands itched to remove the only piece of fabric that covered her and push her against the wall to feel her body. He cleared his throat and replied. "It..It's okay."

She lay on the bed, waiting for Atobe to finish showering. He had given her one of his large T-Shirts and short shorts she had left at his place. He came out half naked wearing his boxers to find her asleep. "Now why are you wearing my jersey." Atobe smiled as he wondered aloud. He lay beside her, combing her damp hair with his fingers. His hand made it's way to the bruise on her face, hovering over it before he clenched it. "_I almost wasn't there in time._"  
He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, pulling away as she stirred, turning her face the other way. His eyes moved down to the jersey and moved his hand to pull on it, unzipping it more to reveal her breasts. His heartbeat quickened and he shook his head, zipping the zipper back up. Sliding his hand over her stomach, he held her waist and pulled her closer to him. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"Wait." Mizuka stopped when they entered the school. Atobe took out his tie and tied it around her. The shipment of her shirt uniform had arrived that morning. "Try not to lose this." Mizuka smiled as he pulled it and kissed her.  
Atobe walked Mizuka to her classes before going to his, not wanting to leave her side. It was only at lunch when Yuki requested Mizuka to sit with her when he was away from her but kept a close eye, sitting at a table not too far.  
"Mizuka, listen." Yuki stared down at her lunch. "I...I am truly sorry for what happened."  
"It's okay, Yuki." Mizuka said, trying to sound assuring.  
"No! It's not!" Yuki sighed and looked up at Mizuka. "When I first started out at Hyotei, I spotted Atobe for the first time and I fell in love with him. But soon I realized that I was not the only one." She gave a small laugh. "Many other girls were interested in him too and tried talking to him and asking him out but Atobe never gave his attention to any of them. They made fanclubs for him and I thought 'Hey, what the heck, I'll join', anything that would make me feel like I was involved with him. My feelings for Atobe were gone by the time we started third year but then you came along and everything changed. All that the girls would talk about was you and Atobe, how you would always be with Atobe and that somehow you cast a spell on him, making him want you by his side. I didn't mind but to be honest, I was a bit jealous." Yuki blushed when she confessed that. "I saw how happy he was when he was around you and how every girl wanted to be in your spot because you were the one making him happy. Then I realized..He will only be happy if it's you and only you and there was no reason to ruin something like that." Mizuka stared at the other girl when she had finished talking. She hadn't been expecting such a deep talk. Yuki took a deep breath. "MAN THAT WAS HARD." She smiled seeing the startled look on Mizuka's face. "Mizuka, can we be friends?" Mizuka smiled and put her hand on Yuki's. "Of course we can."

"Hey. Why haven't you been tutoring me after school?" Taku blocked Mizuka's path to exit English class. "I waited for you on Thursday and Friday."  
"I-I couldn't."  
"Move it, Taku." Shishido came to stand beside Mizuka. "Come on, let's go."  
"Now, hold on." Taku stuck out his arm to block their path. "Do you want a letter of recommendation or not?" He looked at Mizuka with a grin on his face.  
"We'll be there after school." He turned around to see Atobe standing behind him. "We?" Atobe reached out and pulled Mizuka towards him. "Yes, we."

"Atobe, a word." Atobe turned to see his coach standing behind him and Mizuka. They had just finished from her tutor lesson with Taku.  
"Wait for me outside." Atobe said. Mizuka nodded as Atobe followed his coach towards the direction of his office.  
"Atobe. You haven't been attending after school practices." Sakaki looked up at his tennis team captain in his office.  
"I'm aware of that."  
"And I'm hoping it isn't because of that girl."  
"That girl has a name. It's Mizuka." Atobe said. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if I could make a request."  
Sakaki gazed at Atobe suspiciously. Every one of Atobe's requests was a demand. "What would that be?"  
"With my leadership, there is no need for a vice-captain. However, keeping track of all the equipments and what not may be a bit..tiresome."  
"You want a manager."  
"Exactly."  
Sakaki studied him before sighing. "Fine. But, I will not make it easy for her. One slip up and she will be removed, do you understand?"  
"Yes." Atobe grinned.

"Ayame." Taku sighed, looking out the window. "Do you know how hard it is to suck at something I'm not even bad at?" Ayame giggled as she wrapped her arms around him. "But it's fun, isn't it?"  
"It was only supposed to be Mizuka and I but now there's Atobe. I don't want to keep sucking at English." He groaned. "I think Atobe's beginning to suspect it."  
"Well I guess it's fine. I know Ochi and Akiba really gave her a fright." She grinned, smoothing her hands through his hair. "Atobe's getting impatient. I can feel it."

"Oh, lucky, lucky." An orange haired boy was walking with his friends when he spotted a beautiful girl. "Give it up, Sengoku. You've been chasing girls all day." His friend sighed.  
"But this one is extra special! I can feel it." Sengoku said and he dashed over to her.  
"Nice to meet you! My name is Sengoku Kiyosumi." Sengoku smiled as he stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you. My name is Tezuka Mizuka." Mizuka shook his hand.  
"Tezuka..Mizuka..You're Tezuka's sister!" Sengoku exclaimed. "No wonder you looked so familiar. I saw you at the Kanto Tournament when you beat that Hyotei member." With that, he glanced at the surroundings and took a good look at her uniform. "Sengoku, what are you doing here?" Atobe had appeared by the entrance. "Oh hey Atobe, what's up? I'm surprised to see you here." Sengoku gave a short wave to Atobe.  
"I go to this school." Atobe laughed. "Let's go, Mizuka." He took Mizuka's hand and lead her to the limo. "Bye, Sengoku. It was nice meeting you." Mizuka smiled and waved goodbye to him. "That's interesting." Sengoku waved at the leaving limo. "You have no chance against Atobe." Sengoku turned to his friend. "Who said I wanted to be her boyfriend? I just want to be her friend."  
"Riiight." Sengoku's friend rolled his eyes and walked on.

"Do you guys know each other?" Mizuka asked when they arrived outside of her place. "He's just a tennis player from Yamabuki." Atobe explained. "For some reason, your brother rejected the invitation to go to the Junior Senbatsu training camp so Sengoku got the opportunity to. I guess we know why now." To his relief, Mizuka didn't seem disturbed at the mentioning of Tezuka. "By the way, how long do you think you'll be tutoring Taku for?"  
"I'm not sure..I'll ask the teacher tomorrow. Why?  
"If you're not tutoring him for long, there's a manager position open on the boy's tennis team." He took her hand and kissed it. "Why don't you ask Coach Sakaki tomorrow and see how it goes?"  
Mizuka looked thoughtfully at him before replying. "I guess I'll give it a try."

Feeling a cramp when she woke up one morning, Mizuka went to the bathroom to see blood dripping down from her in the shower. Sighing, she finished up and went downstairs for breakfast.  
Her English teacher had agreed that her tutor session with Taku should come to a halt and he would see his progress in the next test. Coach Sakaki looked down at Mizuka as she requested to be the manager. "To be manager, you have to be aware of the team's conditions, know the efficiency and quality of the equipment, and schedule a plan that will enable the players to improve on their skills. I doubt you would be able to do that."  
She stared at him as he turned and walked away from her. "I can do it." He stopped and turned to see the determination in her eyes.

Throughout the whole week, Mizuka had been at the boy's tennis practices during morning, lunch, and after school. Atobe watched as she went into the clubroom after studying Otori at practice after school one day. "She's working hard." He turned to see Sakaki standing behind him. "You purposely reject her to see if she would be capable of doing the job." Atobe grinned. "You like her don't you?"  
"It is not a matter of liking or not liking. She can perform an adequate job. That is all." Sakaki turned and walked away. "She can be manager."  
Atobe entered the clubroom to see Mizuka trying to reach for folders on the shelf. He walked towards her and got it down for her. "Thank you." She smiled.  
"You're working hard."  
"It's difficult but I think I can do it." She said as she walked towards the desk. Atobe looked from her long legs that traveled to her skirt, the sway of her hips to the curve of her waist, her dark brown hair that he knew would be soft to the touch. It had been so long since he had touched her. He had been waiting for her to get over the event of what had happened weeks ago and he just had to have her at that moment. His hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. She turned and was surprised by his kiss. He pushed her against the wall, moving his hands to her waist, pulling her closer as she dropped the folders and moved her hands to his shoulders. Slowly, he moved his kisses to her neck, sliding his hands down to her skirt. It startled him when she pushed him away, looking frantic. "What's wrong?"  
"I-I-I can't.."  
"What? What do you mean you can't?"  
"I just can't..Not right now."  
Atobe studied her carefully before turning around. It puzzled her when she saw him shaking. "Atobe?" She reached out to him before she realized he was laughing. "Why are you laughing?"  
"I'm being held back by the forces of mother nature."  
"Stop laughing! It's not funny."  
He turned and smiled seeing the blush on her face. Reaching out, he slid his hand to the side of her face, turning her to look up at him and chuckled as she leaned against his hand and smiled shyly.  
"Mizuka, you made it."  
"What?"  
"You're the manager." Atobe was surprised when she hugged him around the neck, kissing him.  
"Ahem."  
They broke away to see Coach Sakaki standing at the doorway. "This is a clubroom. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior here."  
"Sorry." Mizuka slightly bowed as Atobe grinned. Sakaki gave him a look.  
"I assume Atobe has informed you. If there is no progression in the team, you will be removed as manager."  
"Yes, sir."  
Sakaki nodded before turning to leave the room.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Drunken Beach

"Cottage?" Mizuka was sitting in the cafeteria with Atobe and the Regulars Friday at lunch. "But school isn't over yet."  
"It's just to train for tennis, get us prepared for our next match since we couldn't make it to the Nationals."  
"Train for tennis?"  
Atobe grinned and put his arm around Mizuka and pulled her against him. "Are you going to repeat everything I say?" Mizuka giggled as he tickled her sides. Oshitari looked at them in amusement. The past events that had happened seemed to have brought them closer to each other. "What about the beach?" Mukahi asked.  
"Bea-" Atobe covered Mizuka's mouth. "Yes, the beach. Since we're going after school today, you have the weekend to pack up for my cottage."  
"Mizuka!" They all turned to see a long red-haired girl coming towards them.

_"And why are you telling me all this?" Atobe looked down at Yuki when she had finished telling him her confession. "Mizuka thought it would be a good idea to tell you and she was right. I feel a lot better." Yuki smiled lightly as she held the handrail and leaned back, letting the wind blow through her hair on the school roof. "It feels like I've been set free from a burden. I can finally find somebody that I will truly commit to." Yuki looked at Atobe and smiled at his normal cool, calm expression. "I'm glad I was able to meet Mizuka." Atobe grinned and walked towards the door leading downstairs. He stopped at the door and looked back at Yuki. "I'm glad Mizuka was able to find a friend like you."_

"You're not here to take away my beautiful queen are you?" Atobe hugged Mizuka closer when Yuki sat down beside them. "Oh come on Atobe." Mizuka listened as Atobe and Yuki gradually conversed about the beach event. She couldn't help but notice that a brown-haired, round-faced, pointy chin boy stare at Yuki and do a small smile. His eyes met with Mizuka's for a second and blushed and turned to engage in a conversation between his younger double's partner and tensai. She gave a small laugh and turned her attention back to Atobe and Yuki. "By the way Mizuka, what colour's your bathing suit?"  
"Bathing suit?"  
Atobe tickled her again. "Is there anything you won't repeat?"  
"I..don't..have..one.." Mizuka said between her laughs. Atobe stopped when she nudged him, giving him a playful glare.  
"You're kidding me!" Yuki exclaimed. "When was the last time you went to the beach?" Mizuka looked thoughtfully at her question and replied. "I think 3..or 4 years ago."  
"That's it. I'm taking you shopping!" Yuki stated as she took Mizuka's arm and pulled her up. "But it's lunch time."  
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Yuki paused a bit before sitting back down. "Shopping after school?" Then she added. "Just you and me." Sticking out her tongue at Atobe who smiled and put his arm around Mizuka.

"Welcome back, Master Keigo." The butlers and maids bowed as Atobe and Mizuka entered one of Atobe's different mansions. "What time are you going shopping?" Atobe asked as he held her hand and guided her along the hallway. Before she could reply, there was barking and paw steps heard behind them that got audibly louder. Atobe turned and was almost overthrown when a dog with long white fluffy fur jumped at him. "Beat!" He grinned as he knelt down and ruffled the dog's fur as the dog licked his face. "I miss you too." The dog stopped and turned towards Mizuka, sniffing the air as if he had just noticed her standing there. Atobe watched as Mizuka knelt down and held out her hand faced down to let Beat sniff it. The dog gradually wagged its tail and jumped onto her, licking her face while she laughed. "He likes you."  
"He's so cute!" Mizuka began scratching the dog behind it's ears, making him bend it's head towards the ground and gradually lying down faced up, letting her rub his tummy. "Master Keigo!" Atobe stood up as one of his butlers came running towards him. "I apologize! I don't know what happened but he was taking a nap and he suddenly jumped up and ran straight out of his room. I'll take him back immediately." Atobe blocked him from bending down. "It's okay. I'll keep him with me."  
"Oh yes, Master Keigo." He bowed before walking away. "You like that don't you?" Atobe turned his attention back to Mizuka as the dog lay there with its tongue out while Mizuka continued rubbing its stomach.  
"I never knew you had such a liking for dogs." Atobe said  
"I've always wanted one but my parents wouldn't let." Mizuka sighed. "Why isn't he at your other place?"  
"Sebastian thought it would be wise to keep him here so he wouldn't disturb my studies but I think I'll keep him around me from now on." Atobe looked down at Beat who was now trying to wiggle in between Mizuka's legs. He grabbed Mizuka's arm and pulled her up and against him. "She's mine, Beat." The dog only cocked it's head and followed them along the hallway.

"It's the perfect weather for the beach!" Mukahi stretched his arms wide and gazed into the late afternoon horizon. He glanced back when he heard a snap. Atobe lay in a beach chair with sunglasses on his head and dark blue swim trunks while Kabaji had just opened a beach umbrella for him. _"Jeez, he's treated like a king everywhere."_  
"Come on, Mizuka!" Atobe looked towards the girls. Yuki was trying to pull away Mizuka's towel that was wrapped around her. "I-I can't..I change my mind!" Mizuka blushed, trying to hold her towel. "T-This is too much!"  
"Don't be ridiculous! You can't change your mind!" Yuki grinned and yanked on the towel.  
"Hey, Atobe." Atobe just noticed Ayame standing beside him. She was wearing a red bikini that was just a bit smaller than her breasts. "What do you want?"  
"You're so harsh." She pouted as she knelt down and moved her hand up his arm. "How are you feeling?" Atobe flicked his eyes towards her as her hand rubbed against his arm. "Hot."  
"Oh, really?" Ayame slid her hand to his chest, leaned closer to him and smiled when he put his hand to join hers. She crouched lower in hope that her cleavage would arouse him. Atobe smiled briefly and pushed her hand back to her, making her fall back. "We're at the beach. It's supposed to be hot, Neko." Ayame stood up looking flustered and walked away.  
"Yo, Atobe." Atobe looked to the other side to see Sengoku in red swim trunks. "Ahn, I didn't know you would be here."  
"Yup. You up for volleyball?"  
"In a bit." Atobe turned his gaze back to Mizuka. Sengoku followed his gaze and grinned. "She's a special one isn't she?"  
"Yeah.."  
Sengoku looked at Atobe from the sound of his voice when he said that one word. "So how long has it been since you've done it?" Atobe's head snapped back to him. "Excuse me?"  
"Atobe, I can tell by the sound of your voice and the way you're looking at her." Sengoku laughed, sitting in the chair beside Atobe. "So what's up?"  
"It's been a while I admit, but I'm just giving her time to recover from an incident that happened." Atobe looked towards Ochi and Akiba who were hitting on other girls at the beach. They hadn't appeared in Mizuka's English class nor in his sight ever since he had dealt with them. "Oh..I see." Sengoku nodded slowly. "Why don't you just seduce her?"  
"Seduce her?"  
"Well it seems like she's doing a great job at seducing you without even trying." Sengoku teased while the other boy glared at him.  
Just then, Yuki finally pulled away Mizuka's towel, making her do a little twirl. Atobe's eyes widened seeing Mizuka wearing a dark blue bikini that fit perfectly on her skinny hourglass figure. "Woah.." Sengoku stared at her. _"Who is that? She's hot!"_ Atobe heard the murmurs from the other boys at the beach. Even though all the other girls were wearing bikinis, most of the attention was on Mizuka.  
"Why is everybody staring at her? She's wearing what every other girl is wearing." Shishido said as he took a glance at her from unrolling the net. "You're so blind, Ryo" Mukahi came towards him and fixed his face at Mizuka. Shishido watched Mukahi use his index fingers to outline Mizuka's figure from the top to the bottom, following every curve. "Okay, stop." Shishido shook him off. "I don't want to look at her that way."  
"What? You not into girls?" Mukahi grinned.  
"No, I just don't want to see _her_ that way."  
"Senpais if you don't mind, I would like to set up the net so that we can play volleyball." Hiyoshi said as he put up a pole.

"See Mizuka, it's not even bad." Yuki smiled, seeing the blush on Mizuka's face. "There's nothing to be shy about. You look great!" Mizuka smiled slightly. "I've never worn one before."  
"You're so cute, Mizuka!" Yuki laughed and nudged her. Mizuka felt an arm around her shoulders and looked up to see Atobe. Before she could speak he pulled her towards the water, leaving the amused looking Yuki behind. "How far are we going?" Mizuka struggled to keep up with him. She could feel the cold water travelling past her abdomen as Atobe's firm grip on her wrist pulled her farther away from shore. "A-Atobe.." Atobe heard her slightly panicked voice and turned to see the water already up to her neck where it was only up to his chest. She lost her balance and slipped under the water. He put his hands on her waist, lifted her up and pulled her against him. "Wrap your legs around me."  
"W-What?" Mizuka said as she wiped the water from her face. "Do it." She nodded and wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing them chest to chest. "I can't stand to have the other guys see you like this.." She heard him whisper against her ear. "It's been so long since we've been this close to each other.."  
She can see the look of lust in his eyes as she licked her lips. Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips against hers, smoothing his hand through her wet hair. Her tongue moved into his mouth and played with his while she moved her hands around his neck. He slowly opened his eyes in site of something coming towards them from the corner of his eye. Mizuka gave a small scream when he flung his arm out and smacked away the volleyball.  
"Hey Atobe! Let's play!" Mukahi shouted from the shoreline. Atobe sighed as his idiotic teammate jumped up and down, waving his arms in the air. "Go join them, I'll watch." Mizuka said as he grabbed the volleyball and they went back to shore. "Watch this for me." He took off his sunglasses and placed them on her and joined the boys.  
"Whichever team I am on will win." Atobe grinned as he snapped his fingers. The team was divided up with Atobe, Sengoku, Shishido, and Kabaji while the other team had Mukahi, Otori, Oshitari, and Hiyoshi.  
Yuki came to join Mizuka watch the boys play. "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na!" Atobe said as he smashed the ball in the other court, making the score 10-6. He looked at Mizuka and gave her a wink and grinned when he saw the blush on her face. Yuki giggled and hugged her. "You're too cute, Mizuka! Come on! We're not going to watch them all day!" She said as she pulled Mizuka towards the water to join the others.  
Atobe took a glance at Mizuka who was getting splashed by Yuki and Kanna before volleying the ball to Shishido who smashed it only to be returned by Oshitari's Higuma Otoshi making the score 20-17. "Higuma..Otoshi.." Sengoku looked at Oshitari who smiled and pushed up his glasses. "As expected from Hyotei's tensai."

Yuki paused to stare at a brown hair boy do a jump and a smash after Atobe faked one. "Do I spy Shishido in your eyes?" Mizuka teased as Kanna laughed. Yuki smiled and splashed a huge wave of water at her. "Come on, let's go." Just as they arrived at shore, Mizuka panicked when she realized she was missing Atobe's sunglasses. "Mizuka, what's wrong?" Yuki asked when she noticed Mizuka stop. "I have to go back, I lost Atobe's sunglasses." Mizuka said as went back into the water. She scanned the waters for it and found it slowly sinking. She swam towards it and reached for it only for it to be snatched out of the water by another hand. "Hello cutie." Mizuka looked up to see Taku. "Hey, Taku. Can I have the sunglasses back?" He moved it away when her hand reached out for it.  
"You didn't say please." Taku grinned as he moved closer to her.  
"Please?" She let him put the sunglasses over her eyes and was about to swim away when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him. "Where's my thank you?"  
"Thank you."  
"Not that one." Taku put a hand on her back and pulled her closer, trying to kiss her. "Stop it." Mizuka dodged it and tried to push him away. She gasped when he pulled the knot loose from her top piece and moved her hand to hold it in place. "Stop it!" She said louder as she tried to back away from him. Yuki turned her head to the sound of Mizuka's voice and ran into the water with Kanna behind her.  
"Come on, you're ruining the fun." Taku pulled her closer and took hold of her free hand. Mizuka tensed when she felt his hand grab her butt. "Let me go!" She yelled.  
"You're so cute when you're like this." He pulled her closer to kiss her neck. She turned her face away as his kisses traveled to her cheek and she was pulled from his grasp by Yuki and Kanna. "Get away from her." Yuki glared at him. Taku grinned and put his hands up as if in surrender, backed off and swam away. "Are you okay, Mizuka?" Kanna asked as she tied the knot again. "Yeah.." Mizuka frowned as they started towards shore.

"And that's game. 25-20." Jirou yawned from the umpire chair. "And the winner is..my team." Atobe shook hands with the opposite team and walked towards his chair to get his towel. "That was tough." Sengoku said as he dried himself from sweat. "It was a so-so game." Atobe wiped his neck and turned to see Mizuka, Yuki, and Kanna walking towards him. "How was your-" Mizuka hugged him before he can finish his sentence. "What's wrong?" Atobe gently tried to lift her face to look at him but she pressed it against his chest. He looked at the other two girls in question but they wouldn't meet his eyes. He wrapped the towel around Mizuka and signaled for the other three to give them space and sat down, pulling Mizuka onto his lap as they left. She sat with her legs on either side of him, turning her face so the side of it rested against his collarbone. "Mizuka." He softly said as he slid his hand through her hair. "T-Taku..." She whispered and felt him pause, his hand in the middle of combing through her hair. "What did he do?" She hadn't realized how hard it would be to tell him. She opened her mouth to try to say it but words wouldn't come out. "What did he do?" Atobe repeated when she didn't answer. His hands moved to her shoulders and slowly pushed her back. Her eyes slowly moved up to his face to see his surprisingly calm expression. "H-He touched m-my.." She stuttered. "Here? Atobe moved his hand onto her breast. She gasped and pulled his hand away shaking her head. "Here." He slid his hand down her waist towards the front part of her bottom piece and moved her hand to hold it. "Stop, people can see."  
"He touched you there?" Mizuka flinched at the sharp tone in Atobe's voice and looked around to see if people heard him. "No."  
"Then show me." Atobe said. "You're wrapped in my towel, people can't see." She blushed and slowly moved his hand to her back and down. He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. "Did he do anything else?"  
Mizuka shook her head not wanting to talk about it anymore and looked down at his chest. He moved his hand to her back and pushed her against him. She felt his breathing on her neck before she gasped when she felt his tongue slid across it. "A-Atobe.." He began kissing her neck, traveling it to her lips and fiercely pressed his lips against hers.

They had started a bonfire once it started getting dark. "What is this?" Mizuka looked curiously at the cup Yuki handed her. The clear plastic cup showed the contents to be a dark brown colour. "It's Coke." Yuki winked. Mizuka lifted the cup to her mouth and was about to drink it when a hand grabbed her wrist and held it down. "Have you ever drank before?" Atobe watched a confused expression grow on Mizuka's face. "This _is_ Coke, right?"  
"Come on, Atobe. Let her try it." Yuki took a gulp from her own cup and sighed. "She's going to drink sooner or later." Atobe gave her a dubious look and turned his eyes to Mizuka. "It has alcohol in it. Rum, more precisely."  
"But aren't we underage?" Mizuka's eyes widened as she looked at the cup more curiosity. Yuki nudged her playfully, drinking her second cup. "It's more fun to do things illegally." Mizuka caught her as she stumbled a bit. "Once you're of age..it's no fun anymore." Yuki giggled and walked to the table to refill her cup. Mizuka looked around and noticed that everybody was drinking. "I don't want you to get pressured into this, Mizuka." Atobe said. "If you want, just try a bit." Mizuka nodded slowly and took a sip from her cup. She tasted the Coke with an odd bittersweet flavor. "How is it?"  
"It's...interesting."  
Atobe smiled and held her waist close to him. "Don't go overboard, alright?" He kissed her forehead and went to the table to get himself a cup. "Otori, are you alright?" He asked his young teammate sat who red-faced, holding onto his stomach. "I feel sick..." Otori breathed in and on his breath out, felt the vomit travel into his mouth. He clasped his hand over his mouth and swallowed it back down. "Otori, washroom. Now." Atobe took his arm and pulled him up. "Shishido, a little help here?" Shishido a little red himself helped Atobe bring Otori to the washroom.

Yuki came stumbling back to Mizuka and watched as Mizuka sipped her cup slowly. "Mizuka, not like that. Like this." Yuki chugged down her third cup. "It tastes wayyyyyy better like that." Mizuka looked at her uncertainly before doing the same, feeling it burn down her throat and into her stomach. "Come, come, we'll get some more." Yuki pulled Mizuka towards the table.  
"Nomore..." Mizuka slowly pushed away the fifth cup Yuki was handing her. She tried to sit up but Yuki pushed her back onto her chair and shoved the rim of the cup into her mouth. Mizuka coughed after downing the drink and moved away from Yuki who was trying to pour another cup. She felt a buzz in her head as she stumbled away. "Mizuka!" Kanna bumped into Mizuka and they both fell giggling. Yuki came and tripped over them, pouring the drink on the sleeve Mizuka's white cardigan. "Oh no!" She pulled Mizuka and Kanna back up and dragged them back to the table of drinks.

"Why didn't you just puke it out the first time?" Atobe drank from his cup as Otori finished washing his face. "I-I didn't want everybody to see.."  
"You're too polite." Shishido shook his head when he looked at Atobe. "I can't believe you can still drink that after hearing and seeing him puke." Atobe only shrugged and lead the way out.

"How much have you guys had?" Sengoku asked, seeing the three girls drunk out of their minds. He caught Mizuka when she toppled back, trying to back away from Yuki who was trying to make her drink another cup. "I think she's had enough." He said, taking the cup from Yuki. "I think all three of you have had enough." Yuki and Kanna stumbled into him, making all four of them fall. "Oshitari! I wouldn't mind if you helped me."  
"Sorry." Oshitari who had been standing there, watching them in amusement bent down to help the flushed looking Sengoku. Atobe arrived when they finally managed to put the girls on a chair each. "And this is what I have when I leave my queen for 15 minutes."  
"They are a handful." Sengoku sighed, looking down at the three of them.

Atobe sat beside Mizuka in the limo, watching her pant and lick her dry lips. "Kabaji, pass me some water."  
"Yes." Kabaji handed Atobe a chilled bottle of water. "Mizuka.." Mizuka slowly opened her eyes and Atobe pressed his lips against hers, pushing his cold tongue into her mouth followed by the cool rush of water. She moaned when she drank the water, craving for more. Atobe kissed the cold water into her mouth two more times before she was satisfied with her thirst.

Beat came running and barking towards Atobe when he arrived back at the mansion. "Beat, be quiet." Atobe ordered and looked down in his arms to see if Mizuka had woken from the sound. The dog obediently silenced and followed Atobe towards his room. He set Mizuka down on his bed and started to help her change when her hands moved to stop his. "No.." Mizuka murmured half asleep. Atobe looked at her curiously as he allowed her to slowly move his hands away. "Only...Atobe.."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Seduction

Mizuka woke up Saturday morning with a headache and slowly opened her eyes. "Good morning, beautiful." Her eyes looked from his chest slowly up to his face to see Atobe smiling down at her. "Goodmorningg.." She mumbled and moaned when he pressed a bag of ice against her head, moving her hand on top of his. "Does that feel better?" She nodded, closing her eyes, letting the coldness cool down her headache. She opened her eyes to see him still looking at her with that same pleasant look in his eyes. "Is there something on my face?"  
He chuckled when her hand moved to her face, trying to feel for anything out of place. "No, you're just...beautiful." Mizuka blinked a couple times in confusion as Atobe leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "Woof." Beat jumped on the bed and wiggled in between them. Mizuka laughed as the dog licked her face and turned to Atobe to do the same. "I think he wants one too." Atobe's hand covered Mizuka's mouth from kissing Beat on the head. "Your kisses are only meant for me." His dark blue eyes stared deep into her brown ones before Beat nuzzled his head into Atobe's chest, making him chuckle. "Alright, alright. Let's go get you a treat." Beat wagged his tail and jumped off the bed and waited patiently for Atobe at the door.

A whole day had passed and Mizuka was glued to Atobe's study table, only leaving when she had to eat or use the bathroom. Atobe lay on his bed, reading a German book. He'd been expecting to spend more time with Mizuka since she got permission to stay at his place and go to his cottage. He glanced up at her back as she sat there doing her homework with Beat lying by her feet, letting her foot rub his tummy, the only living thing that she had let approach her. She asked him to not bother her because she wanted to finish most of the homework the teachers had given them for their time away from school before they headed to his cottage. So far, he had seen her finish Biology. He turned to lie on his back and continued reading before his hand rested the book on his face. He took a deep breath. Feeling a slight movement by his hair, he lifted the book to see the upside down Beat. "Not who I was expecting but good enough." Atobe smiled when the dog cocked its head and moved his hand to ruffle its head and continued reading his book. Beat made a disgruntled sound and Atobe realized he had been repetitively fluffing the dog's bangs to reveal its blue eyes. Beat lightly nudged Atobe's fingers and jumped onto the bed, lying down next to his master. There was a knock on the door and a trolley was pushed in with tea. Atobe sat up and walked over to the trolley, looking into his reflection when he lifted the teacup. _"Why don't you just seduce her?"_ Sengoku's voice came into his head. _"Seduce her, ahn?"_ Atobe thought to himself and glanced over at Mizuka who got up and went to the bathroom. Setting down the cup, he snapped his fingers and pointed to the door. The butler bowed and left, pulling the trolley with him. "You too, Beat." The dog obediently jumped down from the bed and left.

Mizuka splashed her face with cold water, trying to relieve the stress she had been in doing her homework. She wiped her face and sighed, leaving the bathroom. When she opened the door, she jumped seeing Atobe standing there. "Why do you always stand in front of the bathroom?"  
"Why are you always startled seeing me?" Atobe replied with a question. He smiled when she shook her head and followed her back to the table. When she reached the chair, he grabbed her arm, pulled her back, and went ahead and sat in her chair. He smirked when she paused, standing there, looking down at him flustered. He grabbed her hand when she turned to get another chair. "Sit here." She blushed before gently sitting on his lap. "Relax." He pulled her back to lean against him, smoothing his hands to her waist. Mizuka took a deep breath and slowly relaxed against him and continued doing her Functions homework. Atobe slid his hands under her silky shirt and along her waist. "It tickles." Mizuka giggled as her hand moved to stop his. "Stop it, Atobe. It tickles!" Mizuka laughed lightly as he continued. "Atobe!" He finally stopped when she yelped his name. "Let me finish, I'm almost done."  
"Fine." He took her left hand in his and played with her fingers as he watched her do her homework. He moved his hand to pull her hair to the left side and kissed the nape of her neck, chuckling softly when he heard her breath draw in sharp. A tingling sensation went through her as she felt his breathing on her neck, making her shiver. His right hand moved to steady hers, making her write more calmly. He looked down at the silky white shirt she was wearing that had a black bow on the chest and was sure that if he pulled it, her shirt would come apart. His hand moved to gently tug it and paused when her left hand moved to stop his. He softly kissed the nape of her neck, slowly sliding his kisses to the side of her neck. Feeling her hand loosen, he pulled on the bow more and it slipped apart, making her shirt become undone. Her hand gripped his forearm as he moved it to her breast, softly squeezing it. Pushing up her bra, his hand clasped around her breast and massaged it more, smoothing his hand over it and gently pinching her nipple. Mizuka's breaths were coming out short when he moved his hand to her other breast, massaging it and making her nipple perk up. He slid his hand past her stomach and slid it under her short shorts and started rubbing her through her underwear, all the while kissing her neck. She started breathing through her mouth as she found it hard to concentrate. "Mizuka.." She heard his husky voice by her ear. "It's positive."  
"W-W-What?" The words hardly exited her mouth. "The answer is +60...not negative." Atobe breathed in her ear and licked her earlobe. Her hand was trembling against his to cross the dash as he started kissing her neck again. His other hand slipped under her underwear and felt her wetness as he pushed two fingers in her. "Ahh.." Mizuka quickly used her left hand to cover her mouth. "What's wrong?" Atobe breathed in her ear again as his fingers slowly pushed in and out of her, making her pant against her hand. She struggled from the pleasure he was giving her as he resumed to kissing her neck. His right hand left hers to remove her left hand from her mouth. "Ahhh.." Atobe held her left hand from covering her mouth when he pushed his fingers deep into her. "A-Atobe..." Mizuka whispered. "Yes, Mizuka?" Atobe's husky voice in her ear along with the pleasure he was giving her was making her shake. His kisses from her neck gradually moved to her cheek as she turned her face to his. Their lips met as she struggled to finish the rest of her equation. He released her and she let go of the pencil, turned towards him and kissed him onward. She pushed her tongue into his mouth as Atobe grabbed the pencil and finished the rest of the answer. When he finished, he moved his hand to unbutton her short shorts and pulled it off with her underwear as she moved her arms around his neck. He lifted and carried her towards the bed, gently placing her down as he unbuttoned his shirt. He pulled it off and quickly moved on top of her, pushing his tongue through her lips and started unbuttoning his jeans, pushing them off as she smoothed her hands through his hair. Positioning himself in between her legs, he groaned at her tightness when he pushed himself in. "It's been..too long..."

"A-Atobe..." Mizuka panted as Atobe kissed her neck and hugged her tightly, pushing in and out of her. It had been over an hour since they had started. "I...I can't-" She gasped when he lifted her and cried out as her back slammed against the headboard. "AHh.."  
"Bare with me Mizuka.." Atobe panted. He just had to go deeper into her as he grabbed the board and thrust into her harder. He pressed his lips against hers and she pushed her tongue into his steamy mouth and moaned into it at the rhythmic fast pace he was going at, feeling as if he was breaking through her every time he pushed in. The back of her shirt was drenched in sweat as she gripped the headboard to prevent herself from sliding down. Atobe heard the headboard snap and pulled her onto him, pumping her up and down. His hands moved to tear away her shirt, ripping it and pulled it off along with her bra. He lay down and pulled her down with him as he hugged her tightly and pushed up with his legs. She broke the kiss and moaned by his ear. "Ahh..ahh..ahh.." He pushed her head onto his and kissed her while his other hand moved down to her lower back to push down as his legs pushed up. Her moans got louder and he turned, going on top of her while her hands gripped his arms as he pushed in and out of her. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him as he thrust into her faster. Atobe moaned into her mouth, feeling her pussy tighten around his dick as she reached her limit. He gave another moan as he reached his climax and hugged her as he pushed in and out of her at his fastest before pushing into her one last time and staying there. He hovered over her, feeling the sweat drip down his body as he gazed at her breathless body, seeing strands of her hair stick to her face and her chest move up and down rapidly. Atobe collapsed on his stomach beside her and moved his arm to pull her close to him. "Never..make me wait..that long...again..." He panted as he watched her half opened eyes slowly close.

Atobe sipped his cup of tea as he watched the beautiful girl in front of him think about her next move. Mizuka was wearing his shirt, even though buttoned all the way up still hung low by her chest. She leaned forward and it went lower, revealing her cleavage. He set down the cup when her hand reached out to move the bishop. She looked up at him when he chuckled. "Did I move it wrong?"  
"No." Atobe leaned forward. "How about if I win, you'll do whatever I want."  
"What if I win?"  
"Then I'll do whatever you want."  
She looked hesitantly at the offer before nodding and watched as Atobe moved the horse. "Checkmate."  
"You did that on purpose!" Mizuka lightly frowned. She thought there were many more moves to go. He held out his hand to her. "You agreed." She took his hand and he lead her to the bed. Atobe put his hand on the replaced headboard and gently shook it. Seeming satisfied with its condition, he sat on the bed and leaned his back against it and pulled Mizuka on him. She knelt with her knees on either side of him, looking nervous. She gazed at his 6 pack abs to his built chest and slowly up to his face to see him looking at her with an amused look on his face. "I want you...to take the lead."  
"What?"  
Atobe laughed and put his hands on her waist. "Did you forget already?" Her breath shook when he pulled her closer, chest to chest. "I won, Mizuka."  
She bit her lip nervously. "Can you close your eyes?"  
"No." Atobe smiled when she blushed. He watched as she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, saw the look of desire in her eyes as she leaned in and gave him a brief kiss. She slowly slid her hands to either side of his face and kissed him again, pushing up on her knees and slowly tilted his head back. She slid her tongue across his lips and he parted them slightly but she trailed her kisses to his neck. Atobe took a deep breath as he moved his hands to unbutton his shirt she was wearing. Her hands moved down to unbutton his jeans and slowly slid down the zipper and his already hardened dick moved out. She moved her kisses back to his lips and pushed her tongue into his mouth to play with his tongue. He moved his hands down to pull on her underwear, tearing it off and she positioned him and slowly knelt down onto him. Atobe moaned softly as she moved up and down on him halfway and licked his earlobe, combing her hands through his hair. Mizuka breathed in his ear as he licked her neck and moved his hands to pull off the shirt. His hands moved to her waist and suddenly pulled her down all the way, making her do a surprised high pitched moan in his ear. With that, he pushed her down and was on top of her, pushing in and out of her as he kissed her neck and massaged her breast, making her moan aloud. "I..can't handle you..taking the lead..." She heard Atobe pant in her ear and she pushed his head onto hers and made them kiss, moaning into his mouth as he hugged her tightly and pushed in and out of her faster.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Misunderstandings

Atobe woke up seeing the early morning sunshine through his window. He took a deep breath and turned to look at his arm to see Mizuka asleep. He smiled and moved his hand to brush away the hair on her face. _"Beautiful."_ Atobe cupped her face, sliding his thumb over her cheekbone. Her hand moved on top of his and she mumbled in her sleep. "Mmmm..Atobe..."  
"You're dreaming about me, aren't you?" He chuckled and softly brushed his lips against hers.  
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.  
"Master Keigo, it is 6 o'clock." Sebastian announced through the door.  
"Mizuka.." Mizuka slowly opened her eyes to see dark blue eyes gazing into hers. Atobe kissed her and sat up, pulling the sleepy Mizuka up. "What time is it?"  
"Six."  
She moaned and tried to lie back down but Atobe held her against him. "We have to get ready." He smiled and started tickling her. "Okay, okay!" She laughed. "I'm awake." She pulled the blanket and wrapped it around herself. "Why must you cover yourself?" Atobe asked, tugging on the blanket and making her blush. "Nooo.." He put his hand around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her on the head. "You're so shy even when I've already seen you." She grinned shyly and leaned onto his shoulder.

"Why do we have to go this early?" Mukahi whined, as he loaded his things on the travel bus. It was 7:30 AM.  
"Because it takes 3 hours to get there and we want to get an early start to our training." Atobe informed him coolly, sitting at the front of the bus with Mizuka beside him, leaning on his shoulder trying to sleep. Mukahi yawned and took his seat beside Oshitari as Kabaji sat with Hiyoshi behind Atobe and Mizuka and Jirou sat at the back already sleeping. Oshitari took a glance from his book at the other double's pair when Shishido jumped in his seat after Otori nudged him. "Sorry, what?"  
"Are you okay, Shishido-san?" Otori asked.  
"Yeah, yeah, sorry. I'm just...I'm just tired." Shishido gave him a brief smile. "What is it?"  
Otori looked down at his hands. "Our match with Seigaku...Even though we won our match, I still can't stop thinking about how I couldn't serve properly when Inui-san stood near the center line." He looked at Shishido to see his attention back at staring out the window. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Oshitari. "Forgive him, I think he's had a tough weekend. I'm pretty sure Mizuka has some plans to help you with that."

Mizuka woke up when the bus hit a bump. "Did you sleep well?" Atobe asked when she lifted her head from his shoulder. She nodded and yawned into her hand. "Are we there yet?"  
"We're about an hour away." He said as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her back. She pulled out a workbook for the tennis team and started leafing through it, scanning through the pages that Coach Sakaki had read through.  
"Mizuka, did you remember to order more equipment for us?" He asked.  
"Yeah.." She winced when she got a paper cut and looked at her finger to see blood starting to ooze out of the slit. Atobe grabbed her hand and put her finger in his mouth, making her blush as she stared at him. "Be careful." He said as he pulled out a band-aid and wrapped it around her finger. "Is there something on your mind?"  
She sighed and looked out the window, watching the trees zoom by. "I'm just worried that these schedules won't help you guys." Atobe grabbed the workbook from her hand and started reading through it.

_Mizuka watched the light brown-haired tennis Coach leaf through her report in his office. His eyes scanned each page carefully. "Shishido, net dash. Otori, control. Jirou, Mukahi, Hiyoshi, stamina. Kabaji, flexibility..." He glanced down at her. "What about Atobe and Oshitari?"_  
_"I couldn't find what they needed to work on yet."_  
_"And why does Kabaji need to work on flexibility? His main strength is power."_  
_"But-"_  
_"If the players do not focus on what they're specialized in, their improvement will not be that great."_  
_"I understand." Mizuka slightly bowed and turned to leave the room. Sakaki turned to look out the window to where the tennis team was practicing. "She will improve the team greatly." He thought and smiled lightly._

"It's good." Mizuka looked at Atobe when he finished reading through the workbook. "But how come I'm not in it?"  
"Because..Because..." She stammered as he leaned closer to her. Atobe smiled and gave her a kiss. "Because I'm awesome." She laughed at his response. "Does that mean Oshitari's awesome too?"  
"I suppose he is." Atobe chuckled and put an arm around her.

"You're going to have to carry some of the stuff yourselves." Atobe said when they arrived at the ridiculously large cottage. "My father didn't staff this place that much since we don't come here that often."  
"It's all good." Mukahi said as he carried his things. "We're not used to that anyways."  
Atobe smiled and lead the way towards the cottage. "Do you want your own room?" He asked Mizuka who walked beside him.  
"We're not sharing?" She blushed when he grinned and looked away. "I'll have my own room, please."

She changed quickly and was walking down the hallway when she heard her name. She stopped and turned around to see Shishido a couple feet away from her. "Hey, are you ready for your training?" But he stared at the floor not answering her. "What's wrong?" She walked towards him and he finally looked at her when she was standing in front of him, seeing the concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?" There were footsteps and she gasped when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. "Shishido, what's wrong?" His hands grasped her shirt by the collar and pulled her up. She stood on the toes of her shoes as he stared into her eyes. "I...I..."

"What's the schedule for today?" Mukahi asked Atobe as he walked with him down the hallway. "Mizuka planned it with Coach Sakaki. She'll reveal the plans to us at practice." Puzzled by the sounds of voices he heard when they neared the bathroom, he opened the door to see Mizuka staring at Shishido wide-eyed with her shirt collar in his fists. "Sorry." Shishido released her and pushed past Atobe and Mukahi, walking quickly down the hall towards the tennis courts. Mizuka was still in a daze when Atobe entered the bathroom and closed the door on Mukahi. "What happened?" Mizuka blinked a couple times when he snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Mizuka."  
"I-I don't know.." She looked up at him to see him frown. "I don't know."  
He sighed and took her hand. "Come on, let's go."

Outside on the courts, Mizuka watched the Regulars practice after she told them what to do. She was writing in the workbook when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Shishido looking at her intently. "I need to talk to you."  
"Okay." She looked at him with confusion when he didn't talk. "Are you going to say something?" She could tell that he was struggling to speak when his mouth opened and closed.  
"I...Yu...Yu..."  
"Me..." Mizuka was trying not to laugh but she couldn't hide her smile.  
"Never mind!" He turned away from her and walked back to the courts.  
"Wait-" She was about to follow him when somebody grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You know, it's hard finding you in the bathroom with another guy, especially when he's my friend and now seeing you running after him." She looked up to see Atobe looking slightly annoyed. "But-"  
"I don't want to hear it." He cut her off and walked away. Mizuka stared after him and sighed in frustration before stalking off back to the cottage. _"Boys!"_

After dinner, Shishido was standing outside of the bathroom door when Mizuka opened it. "Shishido!" She gasped and he pushed her back in. "What are you doing?!"  
"I need to talk to you."  
"But why do we have to keep talking in the bathroom?"  
He looked nervous as he stepped closer to her. "What's wrong?"  
"It's been on my mind for the whole weekend...I couldn't stop thinking about it." His hands gripped her shirt and pulled her up to him.  
"Shishido, you're freaking me out. What's wrong?"  
"Keep this between us, please..." Shishido's fists were shaking. "On..On Friday...When I was bring..ing Yu..Yuki to her room..."

_"Weee" Yuki giggled as Shishido carried her into her house.  
"You're going to wake everybody up." Shishido hushed her.  
"Nobody's home! My parents are out-of-town for the weekend!" She smiled and took off his blue hat and wore it. He placed her down in her room and was surprised when she flipped him down on her bed. He stared at her as she lay on top of him and leaned closer and pressed her lips against his. He turned and was on top of her, pushing his tongue into her mouth as his hand unzipped her sweater. She moaned as he played his tongue with hers and combed her hand through his hair before he pulled away._

"What happened after?" Mizuka's eyes were wide with curiosity.  
"I...I ran."  
"You...ran?" She repeated.  
"I was so nervous!" He shook her. "Help me, Mizuka!"

"Something wrong, Atobe?" Oshitari asked his Captain when they walked down the hallway.  
"No." Atobe sighed. "I don't think it's anything to worry about."  
Oshitari opened the door to the bathroom and paused. Atobe stopped and looked in to see Shishido's back with Mizuka in front of him looking frustrated. He let go of Mizuka and stepped back as Atobe entered and went in between them. "What the hell are you doing?"  
"Nothing." Shishido looked at Atobe seeing the coldness in his eyes and bumped into Oshitari when he was leaving.  
Atobe turned to Mizuka seeing her slightly confused. "Did he do something to you?"  
"No...he just...he just wanted to talk to me.."  
"About what?" Atobe impatiently pushed her against the wall and lifted her face to look at him.  
"...I can't tell you." When she saw the angered look on his face, she quickly added. "I'm sorry." But he released her and walked out, slamming the door behind him.  
"Atobe-" Oshitari started.  
"Don't." Atobe felt bitter. He knew he shouldn't be angry with her but he couldn't help it.

The next day at training, Mizuka was helping Otori with his serves. She observed him as he did his Scud Serves perfectly. "Otori, I'm going to stand on the other side."  
Otori gave her a bewildered look. "I don't think that's a good idea. I might hit you."  
"It's okay, I'll be fine." She gave him an assuring smile before walking to the opposite side. He hesitated at first before serving. When it didn't hit her, he became more confident in his control and served again. After a couple of serves, she moved closer to the middle line and his serves kept hitting the net. "Close your eyes." He stared at her for a bit when she shouted that to him before closing his eyes and throwing up the ball. _"Ikkyuu nyuu kon!"_ He opened his eyes when he heard the ball hit the ground but was appalled when he saw Atobe on the other side in front of her.  
"I would have caught that." Mizuka said. She had seen the ball coming and was about to catch it when Atobe's blue racquet went in front of her face and he returned the serve. He turned to see her looking slightly irritated. "You're an idiot." He said as he walked away. "Think of another strategy."  
"Mizuka!" She looked at Otori to see him running towards her. "I'm so sorry!"  
"No, it's okay!" She smiled. "It's not your fault. Your serve went in but I have to think of another way. I don't think you would be able to react fast enough if they return your serve. Just continue with your schedule, you're doing great." She walked back towards the cottage frowning. _"You're the idiot!"_

"Mizuka." Atobe was knocking on Mizuka's door after he finished showering from training. He opened the door when she didn't answer and looked in to see that she wasn't in there. He was on his way to check the bathrooms when he saw her coming down the hallway looking all sweaty and tired. "Where have you been?"  
"Out." She walked past him and he followed her to her room.  
"It's almost dinnertime, where did you go?"  
"I already told you." She replied curtly as she went to grab her clothes for a shower. He moved in front of her and grabbed her hand and turned up her palm to see it red with scratches. She struggled to hold her other hand back as he grabbed it to see the same results. "How did you get these?"  
"Because I'm an idiot." She pulled her hands free from his and went past him to get her clothes. She gasped when he took her arm and spun her to face him.  
"Even if you were to catch that serve, it would have broken her wrist." Atobe scolded her as he pulled her against him.  
"You didn't have to call me an idiot!" She looked up to see him getting angry.  
"You are an idiot. You're an idiot for hiding things from me." His voice rose in anger and frustration. "Why are you always hiding things from me?!"  
"I'm not!" She yelled back at him. "I told you about T-Taku didn't I? And..and.." She began to shake and pant and he pulled her into a hug.  
"It's okay." He rested his chin on top of her head and rubbed her back.  
"Why don't you trust me?" He heard her whisper from his chest as her breathing slowed down. He lifted her face up to face him and leaned in. She could see the guilt in his eyes when he pressed his lips hard against hers before he kissed her softly. They pulled away when they heard knocking on the door.  
"Mizuka-sama, dinner is ready."

"Otori.." Otori groaned when he was being shaken. "Otori, wake up." He opened his eyes and sat up quickly to see Mizuka looking startled from his quick awakening. "What is it, Mizuka?"  
"I hope you don't mind..It's half an hour before the others wake up. I-I thought of something that might help you with your serve."  
"Really?!" He smiled happily at her and got up.  
"Get changed quickly." Mizuka smiled as she left the room to let him change.

"What happened to your hands?" Otori asked, seeing Mizuka's hands wrapped in bandages as she lead him into the forest. He couldn't help but notice drag marks on the ground where she was leading him.  
"Nothing, don't worry about it." She replied and stopped when they reached the destination. Otori widened his eyes seeing a large wooden plank held up on its side stuck to the ground. "What...How did you..." He looked at Mizuka and down to her hands which she moved behind her back. She smirked at his loss for words and nodded at the board. "Go stand on the other side and aim your serves through that hole there. It should make your serves be perfect if they ever stand near the middle line." He nodded and went to the other side where a box of tennis balls was already lying on the ground.  
_"Ikkyuu nyuu kon!"_ He aimed for the hole but the tennis ball smashed at the space beside it.  
"It's okay, Otori." She called to him when he looked saddened by his first serve. "You can do it. Fix your form and aim for the hole."

"Where are they?" Shishido wondered as the Regulars gathered on the courts.  
_"We'll be back around noon. - Mizuka."_ They looked at Atobe to see him holding a paper. "She left a schedule for us."  
It was 4:00 PM when Mizuka and Otori arrived back at the cottage. "Otori has something to show you." Mizuka said to the Regulars and they followed them out to the courts. Atobe watched her worriedly as she stood on the other side of the courts, near the middle line and watched as Otori threw up the ball.  
_"Ikkyuu nyuu kon!"_  
The Regulars gawked when Otori did a perfect Scud Serve. "Choutaro! You did it!" Shishido shouted as he ran to Otori and gave him a hug.  
"I did it! I did it!"  
Mizuka smiled tiredly as she walked off the court, yawning into her hand when she bumped into someone and looked up to see Atobe smiling down at her. "You did it." He pulled her into a hug and she sighed into his chest. "You must be tired." He felt her nod and chuckled.

Mizuka took a deep breath after showering. She opened the door to bump into Shishido. "I need to talk to you." He looked at her curiously and followed her to her room. "What's wrong?" He asked, seeing a slight frown on her face.  
"Can I tell Atobe?"  
Her shirt was immediately in his fists. "No! Why?!"  
"I can't keep things from him." She said as she struggled to stand on her tiptoes. "And I don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about. You and Yuki just kiss-" He shook her shirt and whispered. "People can hear you!"  
"Nobody's going to hear me." Mizuka grinned and slowly pried her shirt from his grasp. "I wasn't even that loud." She fixed her shirt and looked at him. "Can I tell him?" He stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Fine."  
She giggled and stepped back to dodged a smack to the arm but tripped on the edge of the bed and fell back. Shishido's hand reached out to grab her but she pulled him down with her. "Oof!" The air was knocked out of her when he landed on top of her. "Get off, you're heavy." She teased, making him smile.  
"What...the hell."  
Shishido quickly pushed himself off Mizuka and turned to see Atobe at the door. "Atobe, it's not what it looks like." He stepped back as Atobe walked towards him. "It was an accident."  
"The hell it was an accident!" Atobe's voice rose as Mizuka got between them, pushing them apart. "What the hell were you doing on top of her?"  
"You just happened to come at the wrong time."  
He flashed an angry look at her. "What?"  
"No..No, you're taking it the wrong way."  
Atobe took her arm and yanked her out of the room.

"Atobe!" Mizuka tried pulling her arm from his grip. "It's not what you think!"  
Atobe pulled her towards his room and shoved her inside, slamming the door and locking it. "He just-" He kissed her fiercely and pushed her towards the bed, pushing her down on it. "Atobe, listen to me!" Her hands tried to stop his from pulling off her shorts and underwear with no luck. "Stop it, Atobe!" He pushed down his pants and boxers, positioned himself and shoved in hard."Ahh..A-Atobe.." And he kissed her, shoving into her fast. He put his arms under her legs and her knees went to his shoulders as he leaned into her, pulling on her shoulders. She whimpered as his thrusts went deeper into her and broke the kiss. "I-It hurts!" She cried out, feeling the pounding against her abdomen as her hands pushed him weakly. "You're hurting me, Atobe!" He forced his lips on hers, suppressing her whimpers. He could see the pain and hurt through her eyes as he thrust deep into her a couple more times before pulling out. He panted as he looked at her with regret, lying beneath him with her eyes closed, whimpering, and holding her stomach. "I'm...I'm sorry." He whispered as he lay down beside her and tried to hug her but she pushed him away. Seeing the sad look when she opened her eyes, he got up, got dressed and left the room.

Oshitari was doing his homework when Shishido barged into his room. "What are you doing?"  
"It's not my fault!" Shishido was flushed as he walked back and forth.  
"What are you talking about?"  
"It was an accident!"  
Oshitari stopped Shishido in his steps and sat him in a chair. "Calm down and tell me what happened."  
He frowned when Shishido finished. "Well this isn't good. Atobe probably thinks you like Mizuka."  
"But I don't!"  
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking out loud."  
"That's nice to know what you think of me." Shishido rolled his eyes and jumped when he heard knocking on the door.  
"Oshitari-sama, dinner is ready." A butler announced through the door.  
"I'm _not_ going." Shishido stated firmly.  
"I think you should." Oshitari said as he got up to go. "You not going isn't going to make it better." He added when Shishido was about to protest.

Shishido took a glance at Oshitari at the dining table. It was not only them that felt the tension between Atobe and Mizuka as there was silence throughout the whole room. Atobe sat at the head of the table with Hiyoshi and Jirou on either side and Mizuka sat beside Kabaji near the middle. Otori glanced from Atobe to Mizuka and looked across him at Shishido in question who shook his head. "Soo.." Mukahi started. "How was training for you guys?" Atobe stood up when he finished and left the room. Oshitari who sat across from Mizuka watched her play with the partially eaten food with her fork. "Are you not hungry?"  
She looked at him and tried to smile. "No, I just.." Oshitari stared at her when her hand moved up to wipe her eyes. "I'm tired. Goodnight." She said as she got up and left the room.

Mizuka was almost at her room when the door to the bathroom opened and Atobe walked out. His eyes widened slightly seeing the tears stream down her face. "Mizuka-"  
She quickly ran towards her room and tried to close the door but Atobe pushed it open and hugged her. "Mizuka..I'm sorry." He held her tight as she tried to push him away. She eventually stopped pushing and hugged him back and cried into his chest. "I'm sorry." He whispered, combing his hand down her hair. When her breathing had become steady, he lifted her face up to look at him. Her eyes were still watery and had become slightly red from the tears. "Please forgive me." When she nodded, he leaned in and kissed her.  
"So we were worried for nothing." They pulled away to see that the Regulars had come to see if Mizuka was alright. Mizuka smiled shyly and hid her face in Atobe's chest mumbling "Thank you."  
The Regulars smiled and parted to their rooms except for Shishido. "Atobe-" He started but Atobe held up a hand. "There's no need to apologize."

It took a moment before Atobe could stop laughing when Shishido told him about Yuki. "Shut UP, Atobe!" The red-faced teammate of his clenched his fists and looked out the window into the darkness.  
"Atobe." Mizuka who sat beside Atobe on the couch in her bedroom gently nudged him and he smiled back at her.  
"She suits you perfectly." He grinned when Shishido looked at him. "So tell us, why did you run?"  
"I've never kissed a girl before.."  
"No wonder you came back to the limo looking all pale." Atobe chuckled when Shishido glared at him. "Relax, Shishido. For all we know she might not have remembered a thing and we can't do anything about it right now since we're away. We'll have to wait until we get back to school."  
Shishido sighed and got up to leave. "I guess so.."  
"It's going to be okay." Atobe said as he got up and patted him on the shoulder. Shishido smiled and nodded at his words and left the room.  
Atobe held Mizuka's hand as he walked to the door. He put his hands around her waist and kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer as they stared into each other's eyes. She missed him. Missed sleeping beside him and feeling the comfort of being in his arms when she woke up. She had longed for it the past couple of days even though they had fought. _"I want you to stay.."_  
_"Tell me, Mizuka. Tell me that you want me to stay."_  
They slowly pulled away and she said. "Goodnight, Atobe."  
Atobe smiled lightly and kissed her hand. "Goodnight, beautiful."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Feelings

"It's tomorrow." Oshitari said after training. "Isn't it?"  
"Yeah. The finals..." Mukahi sighed.  
"Rikkai Dai...and Seigaku.." Hiyoshi spoke sulkily. Otori put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a bright smile. "We've improved a lot. We'll make it next year."  
"Today's the last day of training. Let's celebrate." Atobe announced and they cheered.  
"Thank god we don't have to wake up early tomorrow." Mukahi remarked.  
"The orders didn't come at all. Mizuka, are you sure you placed the order?"  
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did...Maybe I wrote the wrong date." Mizuka said as she checked the workbook.  
"I guess I'll have to write a letter of complaint." Atobe sighed before a van arrived outside the gates of the tennis courts. "You wrote the wrong date, didn't you?" Mizuka smiled and hid her face in the workbook. He chuckled and lead the way to the van where a man was loading off 3 large black duffle bags. "Delivery for Atobe Keigo-sama." The man said, looking down at the clipboard.  
"Kabaji." Atobe snapped his fingers as he grabbed the clipboard to sign it.  
"Yes." Kabaji picked up a duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder and as he began to pick up the second one, he stopped to notice Mizuka standing behind him.  
"I can help you carry one."  
He stared at her and picked up the last two bags, weighing them to see which one was lighter and handed her the lighter one. "Yes." He nodded as he started to follow Atobe back to the cottage.  
"Do you want me to carry it?" Hiyoshi offered as Mizuka slid the duffle bag that was almost bigger than her over her back.  
"No, it's okay. I know you guys are tired from training." She smiled as they traveled back to the cottage.  
They were walking by the pool when Mukahi, peaking with curiosity, went behind Mizuka and partly slid open the zipper to see stacks of white towels inside. He went ahead and unzipped one of Kabaji's bags.  
"Kabaji, place these in the-" Atobe stopped when he heard pattering and turned to see the ground behind him covered in tennis balls.  
"Gakuto! You idiot!" Shishido groaned as he tried to avoid stepping on them.  
Jirou mid-yawning stepped on one and accidentally shoved Mizuka to regain his balance and she fell far into the pool.  
"Sorry, Mizuka." Jirou called to her when she resurfaced.  
"It's alright." She said as she started swimming towards them. She couldn't help but notice that it was getting harder every second to swim towards the edge as every stroke required more effort than the last. She started panting as her face slowly dipped in the water.  
"You do know how to swim right?" Mukahi teased.  
Atobe watched with increasing concern as she struggled towards them. Realization dawned on him when he studied the bag on her back. Towels...TOWELS.  
"Mizuka!" He shouted to warn her but it was too late. She took one last breath before she plummeted from the surface, having the weight of the bag drag her down and he dove into the pool not a second later. She could feel the pressure of the water filling up in her ears as she quickly sank to the bottom. Atobe swam down and lifted the heavy bag only to drop it again, causing bubbles of air to come out of Mizuka's mouth. The growing weight of the bag on her back was slowly squishing the oxygen out of her as Atobe put his mouth to hers to give her air but she pushed him away, shaking her head.  
"What should we do?!" Otori walked frantically back and forth on the pool side.  
"Gakuto! What was in the bag?!" Shishido asked him quickly.  
"Uhh..T-Towels!" Mukahi replied as Atobe surfaced.  
"Kabaji!"  
"Yes!" Kabaji dropped the bags immediately and dove into the pool after Atobe.  
Mizuka was on the last of her breaths as she felt her lungs burn and crave for air. Panicking when he saw her eyes closed, he took one end of the duffle bag while Kabaji took the other and lifted it. He unbuckled the strap and pulled Mizuka from under it and swam to the surface.  
"Atobe!" The Regulars called when they saw them resurface. Oshitari and Shishido pulled Mizuka's limp body from the pool when Atobe reached the side.  
Oshitari put his cheek near her mouth and tried to feel for air. "She's not breathing." He put two fingers to her neck to feel for her pulse. "Her heartbeat's slowing down."  
Atobe climbed out of the water, pinched her nose and opened her mouth to perform CPR on her.  
_" ...twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, THIRTY."_ The Regulars anxiously watched as Atobe compressed her chest 30 times for the second round. "Come on, Mizuka." Atobe put his mouth to hers, puffing air into her twice before pushing down on her chest. "...ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.." His counting had become audible as he pushed down. "Come ON!" He exhaled air into her and pushed down on her chest a couple times and her eyes snapped open. She coughed up the water and Atobe quickly turned her to her stomach so she wouldn't choke on it.  
"Mizuka!" Relief swept over them as she coughed and panted into the ground.  
"Mizuka-"  
Oshitari put his arm out to stop Jirou. "Not now." He quietly said and gave an empathetic smile to the fully awakened blonde teammate of his.  
"Mizuka, breathe." Atobe rubbed her back, trying to slow down her breathing.  
"You can get out of the pool now, big guy." Hiyoshi held out his hand to Kabaji who had stayed in the pool and watched in silence. "She's okay now." Kabaji without saying anything, took his hand and got out of the pool.  
Atobe helped Mizuka as she panted and trembled to push herself. She stood up only to feel lightheaded as she paled and fell back. He caught her and lifted her up in his arms as she lay on his shoulder with her eyes closed, panting. He looked at his team and called the first person he saw. "Shishido, run. Run as fast as you can and call for the doctor." Shishido nodded and sprinted towards the cottage.

"Atobe!" Shishido slipped on the wet floor on his way into Atobe's room and collided into Kabaji. "Sorry, Kabaji!" He looked at Atobe who was standing near the bed where he put Mizuka down on. "Atobe, the doctor is here."  
The doctor appeared after Shishido and Atobe moved aside so he can inspect Mizuka. He stopped, feeling the tension and turned to look at the Regulars. "Please wait outside."  
Atobe nodded and signaled for the rest of his team to leave the room with him. Not too long after, the doctor came outside and told them that Mizuka was going to be alright and that she just needed to rest.  
"Sorry for calling you in such short notice." Atobe slightly bowed.  
"It is an honour, Atobe-sama." The doctor bowed back.

When Atobe entered his room, Mizuka was sitting against the headboard. "Atobe." She smiled and got up when he neared her and he embraced her tightly. "Atobe..I can't breathe..." He loosened his hug and lifted her to face him. "Let's go shower." A look of distress appeared in his eyes before he lead her towards his bathroom. He watched as she slowly pulled off her wet shirt and blushed, holding her shirt in front of her as she saw him staring at her. "I told you before." He said as pulled off his shirt and stepped closer to her. "You don't have to be shy around me." He pulled away her shirt and kissed her, moving his hand to unhook her bra as she nervously held his arms. He slid down her shorts and underwear and gently pushed her towards the shower, holding her waist as she stumbled back. Pushing down his shorts, he entered the shower with her and pulled the covers and turned on the water, shielding her from the first sprays of water. When she moved to wash the shampoo from her hair, he stared, watching the suds run down her dark brown hair, down her shoulders, over her breasts, following every curve of her body. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her and moved to hug him. "Thank you for saving me, Atobe." He froze at her words before he wrapped his hands around her waist as she moved up to kiss him. He yearned to touch her, feeling her bare body against his but willfully kept his arms around her, keeping his hands where they were as she gave him a last kiss before pulling away, giving him a sidelong look. He smiled and turned off the shower. "Let's go."

"Shishido, look at those two." Oshitari nodded towards Jirou and Kabaji. They sat beside each other on the couch of the living room, emotionless as they stared at the flat screen TV.  
Shishido who was sitting at the table with Osthiari playing chess observed them for a bit before asking him. "What? What's wrong with them?"  
"Jirou isn't sleeping."  
"I guess that's not normal but Kabaji is."  
"I guess you're right." Oshitari sighed.  
"Would you hurry up and go already?"  
"Oh right." Oshitari moved his queen. "Checkmate." He put his hand out to Shishido. "_Don't_ flip the board."  
"Whatever." Shishido groaned and moved the pieces back to place. His head was pressed down when Mukahi pushed his hand on it. "Did you lose, Ryo?"  
"Shut up." Shishido pushed Mukahi's hand away as Otori and Hiyoshi came to join them at the table. Oshitari glanced at his double's partner and asked. "Aren't you feeling down?"  
"No, why should I be?" Mukahi looked at him confusedly.  
"The tennis balls did cause Jirou to slip and push Mizuka into the pool."  
"It's not my fault." Mukahi frowned and changed the subject. "By the way, Ryo. Where's your hat?"  
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't seen you wear it at all." Otori added.  
Oshitari tried not to laugh as Shishido struggled for words. "Take my place!" He told Hiyoshi and stood up to leave only to bump into Atobe and Mizuka as they entered. "How are you feeling, Mizuka?" Jirou and Kabaji sat up straight when they heard her name.  
"I'm a bit tired but I'm alright." She looked at Jirou and Kabaji when they came up to her.  
"Mizuka, I'm sorry." Jirou bowed and Kabaji followed him.  
"What for? I'm alive, aren't I?" Jirou looked at her and smiled at the warmth on her face. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Jirou nodded and went back to the couch and plopped down on it, falling asleep immediately.  
"Kabaji, I chose to carry the bag. It's not your fault at all."  
"Yes."  
She smiled and looked to see Oshitari pushing Mukahi towards her. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry."  
"It is totally your fault."  
"WHAT?!"  
"Just kidding." She giggled at the baffled look on his face before he laughed. Oshitari glanced at Atobe to see him glowering and turning to leave the room.

Throughout dinner, Atobe was silent. He finished and left, leaving Mizuka looking confused at the dining table with the Regulars. She made her way to Atobe's room after washing up and stood there, staring at the dark maple wood door. She raised her hand to knock but it paused on the door. _"Why are you so upset?"_ She lowered her hand and stepped back to leave.  
"Do you need help?"  
She jumped, startled when she heard Oshitari's voice by her ear. He had come behind her without her noticing. "No, I just..." She sighed. "I don't know why he's so upset."  
"Well, there's always a way of finding out." He reached out and knocked on the door and walked down the hallway.  
"Oshitari!" Mizuka freaked out, not knowing whether to leave or stay. The door was opened by Atobe, standing there in his shorts and t-shirt. "Is there something you want?" His voice was cold as he stared at her standing in the hallway.  
"Can I stay with you tonight?"  
He opened the door more for her. "Be my guest."  
She stayed in the hallway, having a feeling of gloominess rise in her. "Well, are you coming in or not?"  
"...No...I'm sorry for bothering you." She turned to leave but he moved out to grab her arm. "You already asked." He pulled her into his room and closed the door. He followed her as she slowly made her way to his bed and climbed onto it. He kept a space between them as he gazed into her eyes before she slowly closed them. She opened them not too long after to see him still staring at her. She sighed and sat up. "I'm leaving." He pulled her back down on the bed. "Why?"  
"Because I don't want to upset you by being here." She tried to sit up only for him to push her back down as he moved on top of her. Her breaths were coming short through her mouth as he hovered over her, looking at her eyes, her nose, her mouth. He got off and went to his window, looking out into the dark garden.  
"Atobe, what's wrong?"  
"What's wrong?" Atobe repeated. "You almost drowned. That's what's wrong."  
"But I'm fine now."  
"Do you know how I felt trying to revive you? That moment...It felt like you were never going to open your eyes."  
"I'm alive, Atobe."  
"How can you say that?" His fists were shaking and she realized that he was upset about what she said to Jirou. "I almost lost you." He took a deep breath and leaned his head against his forearm on the wall before he felt arms go around him. "I'm sorry." Mizuka whispered. Her hug seemed to have soothed him as he turned and hugged her back. "Don't be foolish, Mizuka. Let's get some sleep." He lead her towards his bed and lay beside her. She snuggled close to him, her leg intertwined between his with her arm around his waist that pulled her closer to him, closing in the space between them. Atobe smiled as he put his arm around her back. _"I miss you too, Mizuka."_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Painful Memories

BANG!

Mizuka woke up with a start. She sat up quickly, hearing the booming sounds of thunder and seeing the flashing light of lightning that flashed through the windows. Her heartbeat was racing as she flinched when the sound of thunder rang again, moving her hands up to cover her ears and shutting her eyes. She felt arms go around her as she breathed rapidly through her mouth. She pushed her hands onto her ears harder, trying to shut out the sound of the crackling thunder. Strong hands were trying to pull her hands from her ears. "Mizuka!" She heard Atobe's voice when he had finally managed to pull them away. She opened her eyes to see another flash of lightning and tried to move her hands to her ears before the sound of thunder came again. "Mizuka, calm down!" Atobe held her hands firmly when she cringed and screamed as another cracking sound of thunder came. "Mizuka!" Mizuka was panting and trembling as Atobe pulled her against his chest. "It's okay. It's okay, Mizuka. I'm right here." Atobe softly said to her. He combed his hand down her hair as his other hand hugged her close and she shut her eyes and gripped the blanket tightly. "Mizuka, what's your favourite colour?"  
"B-B-Blue." Mizuka's voice was higher than her normal high voice.  
"That's a nice colour. My favourite colours are black and gold." Atobe moved his hand to cover her ear and gently pressed her head against his chest when he saw another flash of lightning. He removed his hand when the thunder went by. "What do you like to eat most?"  
"U-Unacha...and roast beef.."  
"Roast beef?"  
"I-Is that odd?" Mizuka slowly opened her eyes.  
Atobe chuckled softly as he lifted her face up to him. "That's what I like to eat most too." When the lightning flashed, Atobe saw the sadness mixed with fear in her eyes before she closed it and pressed her face into his chest. She felt his hands on her ears as he slowly laid down and cradled her in his arms. "I'm here for you, Mizuka." She heard him whisper in her ear and fully covered it, pressing her head against his chest. She listened to his heartbeat, letting the steady heartbeat calm her.

"What is with this weather?" Hiyoshi moved the curtains to see the flash of lightning in the living room. "How are they supposed to play in the finals today?" There was a glass breaking sound when the thunder struck and he looked to see Shishido standing by a broken vase on the floor.  
"What's wrong, Ryo? You scared of thunderstorms?" Mukahi carried his bag towards the couch where Jirou was already sleeping.  
"Whatever." Shishido crouched down to pick up the broken pieces.  
"No, Shishido-sama! We will clean that."  
Shishido stood up when a butler came with a broom and dustpan. "Sorry about that."  
"Do not worry, Shishido-sama."  
He flinched when another sound of thunder came and moved to the window to close the curtains. "I didn't know you were scared of thunder." He turned to see Oshitari arrive through the door. "Shut up."  
Oshitari looked around the room to see everybody ready to leave except for two people. "Where are Atobe and Mizuka?"  
"Maybe they're finally doing it."  
"What are you talking about?" Shishido looked at his red-haired teammate sitting on the couch arm.  
"I expected them to be at it all week but they slept in different rooms. But yesterday, she slept in his room." Mukahi grinned when Shishido's eyes widened and he looked away. "You know what I'm talking about. Se-" Oshitari smacked him on the head.  
"Your mind is too dirty, Gakuto."  
"What? It's true." Mukahi rubbed the back of his head. "If I had a girlfriend like that I would be bang-" Oshitari smacked him again.  
"We don't want to know about your dirty thoughts. Besides, I don't think they would in this kind of weather."  
"Anyways." Otori cleared his throat and pulled open the curtains. "It's pouring outside. I don't think we should leave now."  
"Yes." Kabaji agreed as Shishido pulled the curtains closed when the thunder rumbled.

_BOOM. BOOM. BOOM._

_The booming sounds of thunder rang in the 6-year-old Mizuka's ears as she was thrown against the wall as the boat rocked. "Nichan!" She called to her 7-year-old big brother when the boat rocked back and she fell into his arms. "Mizuka, we have to get inside!" Tezuka held onto his sister dearly as he tried to go towards the door, reaching out for the knob only to slip back and ram against the rail of the boat, catching his sister as she slammed into his chest. "Nichan! I'm scared!" Mizuka's eyes were wide and full of fear as the lightning flashed dangerously and the rain poured down on them. Tezuka's hand firmly gripped the slippery railing as his other arm held his sister close. The boat tipped towards the rear and she screamed when she slipped from her brother's grip. "Mizuka!" Tezuka watched in terror as his sister slid from his outstretched arm. "Nichan!" Mizuka cried as she slid down the watery boat's floors._

The storm had passed through and had turned into a light drizzle as Atobe hugged Mizuka in his arms closely. She shook and began panting, turning her head from the left to the right. "Nisan..." Mizuka's soft voice trembled. _"She's having a nightmare."_ It scared him before to see her terrified of the thunderstorm and it scared him now to see her like this. "No.." Her voice was more audible as her panting became faster. He was about to wake her when her hand raised and stretched out before she opened her eyes with tears. She blinked and the tears rolled from her eyes. "Mizuka.." She gasped from her panting and turned away from Atobe. He hugged her as she cried, feeling a weight in his chest for not knowing why. It took a moment before she could collect her breath. "I'm going to go pack." She quietly said and moved the blanket to get out of bed but Atobe pulled her back and went on top of her.  
"What was that?"  
"Let me go pack." She wouldn't meet his eyes as he stared at her.  
"Tell me, Mizuka." When she was silent, he leaned in and kissed her. He pushed his tongue into her mouth to play with hers and she closed her eyes and gradually moved her hands around his back and hugged him closer.  
"Atobe!" Shishido banged the door and opened it. "How long are...you.." He paused when he saw Atobe on top of Mizuka. They had pulled away when the door opened. "I guess we can wait a bit longer.."  
"No, I'll go pack now." Mizuka slid off the bed and pushed past Shishido. Shishido stared after her and looked at Atobe who slowly got off the bed. "Is she okay?"  
"No..I don't know." Atobe sighed and walked towards the door. "Tell the others we'll be ready shortly." And went after Mizuka.

When he got to her room, she was grabbing her folded clothes out of the drawers. "Mizuka, tell me what's wrong." He hugged her from behind, making her drop her clothes on the floor. "It pains me...To see you like this.." He whispered. She started trembling as tears surfaced her eyes again, biting her lip to try to hold the tears from falling and she broke out of his hug, running out of the room. "Mizuka!" Atobe groaned and ran for the door when her phone was ringing and vibrating on the wooden table. He went to it, looked at the display and picked up.

"Man, we've been waiting for an hour already." Gakuto sighed, throwing a tennis ball up and catching it when it fell back down in his palm.  
"I'm pretty sure they have a good reason for taking so long." Otori said from his game of chess with Hiyoshi. He glanced at the doors when it opened to see Shishido walking in. "What's taking them so long?"  
"We can wait a bit longer." Shishido plopped down on the foot of the couch where Jirou was sleeping and put his hand to his face.  
"I told you not to bother them." Gakuto threw the ball at Shishido, hitting him in the chest. "So, did you see anything?"  
Shishido glared at him and threw the ball back. "No."  
They looked at the door to see Atobe enter. "Unpack your bags, we're staying another week."  
"Really?!" Mukahi exclaimed happily.  
"Wait. What about school?" Oshitari asked.  
"I've already informed the school, they're fine with it." Atobe explained. "By the end of this week, we're going to have practice matches with Seigaku."  
"Seigaku?!"  
"Yes. Training starts tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow? Why don't we just start today?" Shishido asked.  
"Do whatever you want then." Atobe left the room, pondering on what Tezuka had told him.

_"What's wrong with Mizuka? Why is she so scared of thunderstorms?" Atobe demanded that Tezuka tell him. "She called for you in her nightmare. I know you have something to do with this. Tell me."  
Tezuka was silent for a moment and took a deep breath. "Every time there is a thunderstorm, we would always have to be there for her."  
"Why?"  
__"It was ten years ago..."__  
_  
_"Kunimitsu! Mizuka! Hurry, we don't want to make grandpa and grandma wait!" Ayana called for them. Not a second later, she sees them racing from their rooms and down the stairs.  
"I win!" The 7 year-old Tezuka beamed happily.  
"No, I win!" The 6 year-old Mizuka pouted.  
"Now, now. It's not a race." Ayana smiled as she lead them out to the car.  
"Finally you kiddos are done packing!" Kuniharu said as they all entered the car.  
"It's all Mizuka's fault! She packed too many things!"  
"No!"  
"Children, stop fighting."  
"Yes, mommy." They said as their father drove them to their grandparent's place.  
_  
_"Grandpa! Grandma!" Mizuka ran out of the car and hugged her grandparents._  
_"Mizuka!" Kaede smiled and lifted her up, kissing her on the cheek. "I've missed you, dear."_  
_"I missed you too, grandma!" Mizuka smiled and kissed her grandmother's cheek._  
_"What about me? Where's my kiss?" Kunikazu leaned in as Mizuka giggled and kissed his cheek too. He looked at his grandson who had ran towards him and picked him up. "You're a big guy now, aren't you?"_  
_"Yes, grandpa." Tezuka hugged him around the neck._  
_"Sorry to leave them with you, mom, dad." Kuniharu said as he walked towards his parents to give them a hug. _  
_"Don't be sorry son! We love to have them around!" Kunikazu grinned as he set Tezuka down. "Now who's ready to go fishing?"_  
_"Me!" Tezuka and Mizuka started to run towards the boat._  
_"Aren't you two forgetting something?"_  
_They halted in their steps at their mother's words and ran towards the car to get their things before running to the docks. "Race you there!" Tezuka dashed ahead of Mizuka.  
"Wait, Nichan!" Mizuka tripped over and her mother caught her. "Be careful, honey."  
"Yes, mommy." She hugged her mother before going after her brother.  
"Kids." Kuniharu shook his head and put his arm around his wife to head back to the car._

_Mizuka watched the fishing bobber intently as she stood on top of a crate. Watching as it bobbed up and down with the waves as the boat moved before it plopped from the surface. She immediately pulled the fishing rod. "I got one!" She kept pulling and pulling until she heaved up a mackerel. Not a moment later, Tezuka pulled up an even bigger mackerel. "Mine's bigger!" He grinned, sticking his tongue out at his sister. She pouted and stuck her tongue back at him. She cast another rod and this time it pulled hard, sending her ramming against the rail of the boat. Tezuka turned to look at her when she screamed and ran towards her. He hugged his sister and they pulled together and a giant salmon came up and they fell back on the floor, panting. "Mizuka, are you okay?" Tezuka asked his sister but she only stared at the giant fish flopping on the deck before it flopped back into the waves. He clamped her fishing hat down on her head and stood up. "Let's go."  
"Wait!" Mizuka lifted the hat from her eyes and ran after her brother.  
__  
Tezuka searched for his sister from their game of hide-and-seek, looking everywhere for her. "Mizuka." He called out, trying to see if she would call back but he knew that wouldn't work. He heard a rumbling and then the rain started pouring down hard. He tripped back when the boat rocked, sliding across the deck. "Mizuka!" He called for her again, after the thunder and lightning came. "Mizuka! Where are you?!"  
"Nichan!"  
He looked to see Mizuka climbing out of a barrel and tried to go towards her. The boat rocked towards him and she fell into his arms. "Mizuka, we have to get inside!" Tezuka tried to say to her against the loud booming of the thunder. He held onto his sister, walking towards the door, reaching out for the door only to slip back and ram against the rail. He caught his sister as she slammed into him. "Nichan! I'm scared!"  
Trying not to let the sound of her voice panic him even more, his hand gripped the rail as his other arm wrapped around her when the boat tipped towards the rear. She slipped from his arm and screamed and he watched in terror as she slid down the watery floors of the boat. "Mizuka!"  
"Nichan!" Mizuka clawed the slippery boat's floors and slid into her grandmother's arms that picked her up.  
"I have you, Mizuka." Kaede said as she hugged her tightly, using her hand to grip the rail to pull them back to where Tezuka was.  
"Grandma! I'm scared!" Mizuka trembled as she hugged her grandmother.  
"It's alright. Everything will be-" The boat tipped to the other side and they slid across the boat. Tezuka slammed against the wall and made his way along it, inching closer and looked around the corner to see Mizuka halfway up the railing, almost tipping over. "Mizuka!" He ran across the boat.  
__"Grandma!" Mizuka's small hand was gripping her grandmother's hand tightly._  
_"Mizuka, my dear. I love you." Her grandmother gave her a smile before she let go of Mizuka's hand and fell into the dark waves._  
_"GRANDMA!" Mizuka moved to go over the rail only to be pulled back by her brother. They fell on the floor and he held her from going back to the rail. "Mizuka! No!" He hugged her as she cried. The boat tipped to the other side and they slid across the deck. "Mizuka, listen to me." He made her look at him, seeing her tears mix in with the pouring rain. "Hold onto me no matter what. Do you understand me?" He shook her shoulders and she nodded. He turned to let her go on his back and he lifted her, piggybacking her. "Hold on tightly!" He ordered her as he pulled on the railing, making their way towards the door to the room. Once they finally made it inside, he set her on the bed and hugged her as she cried. "Mizuka, it's okay." He tried to say as more tears in her eyes poured out. _  
_"G-Grandma..." She sobbed._  
_"I-It's..I-It's..." Tezuka had tears pouring from his eyes now and he hugged her tighter as they cried together._

Atobe reached the bathroom and didn't bother knocking. He opened it to find Mizuka staring at herself in the mirror. She turned towards him and smiled. "Hey, sorry. I had to use the-" He hugged her, pressing her face into his shoulder. "Atobe?" He heard her muffle and he whispered. "I'm sorry."  
She leaned into his hug and trembled, crying into his shoulder and he hugged her tighter.

"I was just asking him a question, he didn't have to reply in that tone." Shishido sighed as he walked with Oshitari towards their rooms.  
"Something tells me there's more to that. You did disturb them."  
"Shut. Up."  
Oshitari put his arm out to stop Shishido when he heard sniffs and sobs from around the corner. He slowly made his way to peek around the corner to see Atobe hugging Mizuka tightly as she cried.  
"We have to find another way around." Oshitari whispered.  
"What?"  
"Shhh!" Oshitari grabbed Shishido's arm and pulled him back down the hallway.

The next day at training, Mizuka sat on the bench staring at the ground as the Regulars trained for their practice match against Seigaku.  
"Atobe, what's wrong with Mizuka?" Otori asked his Captain when they took a break, glancing concernedly over at her.  
"She's had a rough week." Atobe replied, also taking a glance at her. Mukahi snickered and nudged Oshitari who gave him a smack to the head. They straightened up when Atobe ordered, "Get back to practice."  
Mizuka was caught by something cold that pressed against her cheek. She flinched and looked to see Kabaji holding a bottle of Oxygizer. "Oh. Thank you, Kabaji."  
"Yes." Kabaji said as he handed her the bottle.  
"This water...Atobe recommended it right?"  
"Yes."  
Mizuka took a sip of the refreshing water and sighed, looking over at Atobe who was practicing against Hiyoshi. He looked over at her and saw her staring at him and came towards her. "Kabaji, take my place."  
"Yes."  
Atobe took Mizuka's hand and pulled her with him towards the gates. "Where are we going?"  
"Out." He smiled at the puzzled look she gave him. "We're going far, far away."  
She giggled slightly and followed him towards the travel bus.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend before?" Mizuka was a bit startled by Atobe's question. "Why are you asking?"  
"Because I want to know." He leaned closer to her as she moved back in her chair. He moved the arm rest up and moved in on her, making her back against the window of the bus. "W-Well...O-One.."  
"What's his name?" His lips hovered over hers as he slid his hand to her face to make her look at him. "Well?"  
"A-A-Atobe.." She managed to breathe, not realizing she had been holding her breath the whole time. "I'm listening." His lips brushed over hers, tickling them as she struggled to get the name out. "A-Atobe.."  
"Ahn?" He stopped as she said, "It's you..You're the only boyfriend I've ever had.." He stared at her, astonished by her words before sitting up and laughing. Mizuka blushed, embarrassed by him laughing at her hesitantly asked him, "Have you ever had a girlfriend before?"  
"Not 'a', but many." Atobe grinned when she blinked a couple times before looking out the window. "Oh, I see."  
"Mizuka, I'm just kidding." He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "Girls never interested me before. They always seemed too...how should I put it..Annoying." Mizuka looked at him as he continued. "Until I saw you. Until I met you. You're different from all the other girls. You don't shriek my name or try to get my attention, something that I found strange. I just had to...have you. I couldn't control myself when you were around me, something about you makes me want to...touch you." He took a deep breath and clenched his fists. "That day, when you were running from Ochi and his friends, I knew I had to claim you as mine before anybody else did." He looked at her to see her eyes widen as she thought about that day. "What about you?"  
"What about me?"  
Atobe chuckled and leaned into her. "You can't expect me to give you such a confession and have nothing in return."  
Mizuka bit her lip nervously. "When I first saw you, I didn't like you. You hurt my brother when you had your match with him. I didn't think I would see you again but then you ended up guiding me around Hyotei. W-When y-you..." She blushed and moved her hand to her lips. "Kissed me..I-I was so surprised because nobody had ever done that before and then you started t-touching me and..and.." Her blush deepened. "And I was so nervous..I was so scared because you were so gentle with me and it felt...good. That day...when we...the first time, I just..I was just so scared but I wanted you at the same time. It made me drawn to you, it made me feel like I was closer to you. Everything that had happened, everything up to today, even now, I still feel nervous around you because I really really like you."  
Atobe started laughing, making her blush. "Why do you keep laughing at what I say?"  
"Because you're so cute, Mizuka." He pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the head. "I really really like you too."

They arrived at the cemetery and she stopped in her steps. "No...Atobe, you didn't."  
"It's okay, Mizuka. I'm here with you." He took her hand and tried to pull her with him but she stood her ground.  
"N-No..A-Atobe..." Tears were surfacing her eyes and he hugged her. "I know, Mizuka. Tezuka told me."

_"She never visited grandma's grave." Tezuka's voice was tense. "I know it's hard for her."  
Atobe took a deep breath. "It must be hard on you too. I'm sorry."  
"...Yeah.."  
"Just one more thing before you go. Where is the grave?"_

"A-Atobe-" He put a finger to her lips. "Mizuka, I'm right here. It will be okay." He wiped her tears that dripped down and she slowly nodded. He held her hand and lead the way past many tombstones until it was her grandmother's. She stared at it, seeing the small picture of her grandmother's smiling face engraved on the stone, the same smile her grandmother gave her the very last time she saw her. Mizuka fell to her knees and started crying, putting her hands up to cover her face. "G-Grandma...I-I-I'm so s-sorry.."  
Atobe slowly knelt down beside her. "Kaede, is it?" He began, reading the name. "Your granddaughter has grown up to be beautiful. Very beautiful. You have never left her mind and have always stayed in her heart and will be there, forever." He put his arm around Mizuka and pulled her against him when a cool gentle breeze blew towards them. Mizuka gave a small gasp when the wind blew the hair from her face which was surprisingly warm and leaned into Atobe. "Thank you, Atobe."

Mizuka was silent on the way back to the travel bus, holding onto Atobe's hand as he lead her to their seats. When he took the seat beside her after telling the driver where to go, she took a deep breath. "Atobe, I'm sorry."  
"For what?" He looked at her curiously as she stared down at her hands. "You're always seeing me like that...I'm sorry." He lifted her face to look at him. "Mizuka, it's okay to cry when you need to." He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. "There is nothing for you to apologize for." She leaned into his kiss but he pulled away. "However, it's not okay to cry and not tell me why."  
"But-"  
"No. Do you know how worried I was? Seeing you cry is hard enough, Mizuka. Why can't you just tell me?"  
"Because it's hard! You make it sound as if it's so easy for me but it's not!"  
Atobe was taken aback when she yelled at him. "I want to tell you but it's hard!" He quickly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. "I know, I'm sorry. I just care a lot about you. Seeing you cry worries me a lot."  
"That's why I try not to.." She quietly said and frowned. She started giggling when he tickled her. "Stop it, Atobe." And tried tickling him back.  
"You know, I'm not ticklish. At all."  
"That's not fair!" She laughed as he tickled her more. "This..is..totally..not..fair!"  
"Life isn't fair, Mizuka." Atobe smirked as he continued. She gave a small scream when he accidentally jabbed her in the ribs when the bus did a wide turn. "Atobe..stop!"  
"Say please."  
"PLEASE!"  
Even though she said it, he still continued. "Atobe! I said please!"  
He finally stopped when the driver announced that they had arrived and chuckled when she glared at him, walking out of the bus first. She stopped when she stepped out of the bus to see that they were at his mansion. "What are we doing here? Aren't we going back to your cottage?"  
"We are. I just want to play with you a bit more before we head back." Atobe casually said as he stepped out of the bus and lead the way to his mansion.  
"Play with me a bit more..." Mizuka repeated to herself and followed him. He led the way to his tennis courts and turned towards her. "We are going to have a match."  
She looked up at him, seeing him stare intensely at her. "I won't go easy on you." He gave her one of his racquets and made his way to the other side of the court as she hastily tied up her hair. _"So this is what he meant."_ She smiled to herself when he threw up the ball but was shocked at how fast it was when he served. "Pay attention or this wont be a fun." He said and she realized he was serious and looked at him with more concentration, studying his body form when he threw up the ball and moved to her left before he served it.

When they finally finished their match, Mizuka was panting and sweating as she crouched on the ground. The final score was 7-5 and Atobe had won. Atobe himself was sweating and panting as he walked towards the net when she did. He had gone all out with his ultra-aggressive tennis play style. He hadn't intended to but he had to since she was an offensive opponent. "Thank you." He said as he shook her hand. "For not using your left hand." She looked at him curiously. "I hate it when people go easy on me."  
She grinned and said, "Me too." And he pulled her hand, making her go into the net and kissed her.

"You play different." Mizuka said as she thought about their match on the bus. "Elaborate, please." Atobe said.  
"When you played against my brother, you were more...defensive."  
"That's because I like to play around with my opponents. Make them tired, wear them down and then defeat them." He sighed. "I think I should have taken Tezuka more seriously. I didn't know he was so passionate about tennis, throwing his arm away for the victory of Seigaku."  
She smiled lightly and turned and looked out the window. He turned her to look at him and pressed his lips against hers, pushing her against the window as he moved onto her chair. "Atobe..wait..stop.." She tried to say as he continued kissing her and lifting her up to move onto his lap. Her hand moved to stop his that was going up her shirt. "Do you really want me to stop, Mizuka?" Atobe breathed in her ear and looked down to see her other hand gripping his shirt tightly. His tongue trailed her lips and she moved her tongue out to touch his before she pulled his shirt and kissed him. He smiled in the kiss and moved his hand under her bra and cupped her breast, using his other hand to hold her from pulling away. "Atobe, not here.." Her breath was shaky as she felt his other hand go up the back of her shirt, unhooking her bra. "S-Stop.."  
Atobe chuckled softly as he gently massaged her breast, pinching her nipple. "Do you really want me to?" He began kissing her neck as she panted, feeling his hand move past her stomach and under her shorts and underwear. "Atobe wait-" He covered her mouth when he pushed two fingers into her, suppressing her moan. "You keep saying the opposite things you want." His fingers continued to push in and out of her slowly, making her moan and pant against his hand. "Tell me, Mizuka. Do you want me to stop?" He expected her to nod or shake her head but her hand shakily pried his hand from her mouth. "N-No." And he covered her mouth when he pushed his fingers deep into her, making her do a surprised moan. "You're so cute, you make me want to tease you more."

By the time they reached their destination, it was dark and Mizuka was exhausted as she sat on Atobe's lap, leaning her head against his shoulder, panting. "Master Keigo, we have arrived." The driver announced.  
"Can you walk?" Atobe teasingly asked her and she slowly got up, her knees shaking and he lifted her up, carrying her out of the bus and towards the cottage.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

Having spent quality time with Atobe for a whole day, Mizuka was cheerful for the next days of practices. "Where's all this energy coming from?" Oshitari asked her. "Pass me some."  
Mizuka giggled and handed him a bottle of Oxygizer. "I'm glad you're feeling better." He smiled and gave her a pat on the shoulder.  
"Thank you." She looked to see Atobe coming towards them and gave him a hug. "Hey, hold on." Atobe chuckled. "I'm sweating."  
"It's okay. I don't mind."  
He grinned and wrapped his arms around her. "Okay, if you want it that way." Mizuka laughed when he tickled her. "Stop it! It's not fair!" Atobe held her from pulling away from him. "You said you didn't mind."  
"Nooo! That's not what I meant!"  
Oshitari couldn't help but laugh as Mukahi and Kabaji came to join them. "I can't wait for our match tomorrow. I'm going to make them pay." He said, punching his fist against his palm. "Right, Kabaji?"  
"Yes. The winner will be Hyotei."

_He watched as the she lowered her racquet 3 millimeters and performed a drop shot, watching as the ball just went over the net and when it hit the ground, spun backwards towards the net._

Atobe opened his eyes, the playing of the ball spinning on the ground back towards the net playing over and over again in his head. _"Of course she would know how to do it. Why wouldn't she?"_  
He was still amazed at how she and Tezuka could perform the Zero-Shiki Drop Shot. The rotation of the ball spinning backwards could be done in any direction. If he could exert enough force on the ball for it to keep spinning in one swing, the point would be his but he didn't just want a move that might be returned. He wanted a move that would not be returned. As if it had to be from the start. _"That's it. A serve."_ He smiled and sat up quickly, waking the sleeping Mizuka. "Wha?"  
Atobe chuckled, gently pushing her back down on as he got out of bed. "Go back to sleep. I'll see you later."  
"Where are you going?" She asked, more awake.  
"I'm going to do some practice swings by myself."  
"But it's...soooo early." She glanced at the digital clock showing 6:00 AM.  
"Shhh..Just go back to sleep." He gave her a kiss and got dressed quickly as she watched him. "Close your eyes, Mizuka." He grinned and came towards the bed.  
"But-" He pressed his lips against hers. "It's so early.." He covered her eyes and kissed her softly. "Go to sleep, Mizuka."

By the time it was breakfast at 9:30 AM, Atobe was exhausted as he sat at the dining table. Mizuka gave him a curious look when he only held her hand and watched her eat with the Regulars. "Why aren't you eating?"  
"I'm not that hungry." Atobe replied but said when she frowned. "Fine. Give me some."  
Mizuka scooped up a piece of cake and held it to him, expecting him to grab the fork from her but she fed him instead as he ate it. He laughed when she pulled away the fork, blushing. She had never fed anybody before and it surprised her when she did. "Well, aren't you going to give me more?" He watched as she scooped another piece up and held it to him, her hand shaking. He held her hand to steady it and ate from it as she blushed even more. He ate more of the main course of breakfast when it had arrived before they had to go for training.

Atobe's absence in the early morning recurred until the last day, Mizuka waited for him to leave the room and crept to the door after him. She opened it and gasped when she immediately saw him. "Where are you going?"  
"T-To...T-To...T-To the bathroom."  
"I have a bathroom in my room. Why don't you use that one?"  
"I like...smaller bathrooms."  
"You like" He stepped in the room as she stepped back. "Smaller bathrooms?" He put his arm around her waist when she tripped on the edge of the bed and placed her down on it. "And you were planning to go out like that?" His eyes slowly moved up and down her. She was wearing one of his t-shirts that was long, just covering the short shorts she was wearing which made it look like she was only wearing his t-shirt. "Well?"  
"Isn't it okay?"  
"Isn't it okay?" Atobe repeated, climbing on top of her. "You have no idea what goes on in a man's mind." He kissed her, looping his fingers with hers. "How did you know I was going to follow you?" She whispered as he lay beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "Because I knew you weren't sleeping."  
"But how?"  
"Because I'm a genius." He kissed her on the head and pulled the blanket over them. "Go to sleep, we have a long day today." She slowly closed her eyes and put her arm around his waist. _"Silly girl, I watch you sleep every time."_

After showering in morning, Mizuka was amazed by how good Atobe looked in his pink silky long sleeved, v-neck shirt. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, catching her staring at him but she shook her head. "Then why are you blushing?"  
"I'm not." She unconsciously put her hand up to feel her face and he smiled. "You are now." He leaned in and kissed her. "You look very good yourself." He mentioned, looking at her blue jean short shorts and her red velvet blouse. They were about to leave when her phone started ringing and she took it out to see her mother calling her. "I'll wait for you in the dining room." He gave her a kiss before leaving the room.

"This is too luxurious for the morning." Shishido remarked as they ate.  
"You can't call it a meal without hors d'oeuvres and dessert. Right, Kabaji?" Atobe said.  
"Yup."  
A butler arrived through the doorway and announced. "Master Keigo, the guests are now here."  
"They've arrived." Atobe set down his cup of tea. Not long after the butler arrived, Ryuzaki, Seigaku's Coach and Shiba Saori, Monthly Pro Tennis Reporter appeared at the door.  
"A-Awesome. Even the dining room is huge." Shiba astoundingly said out loud.  
"Welcome to my cottage." Atobe slowly stood up to welcome the guests. "I trust that Seigaku has prepared enough for our match. Or at least tried to."  
Ryuzaki interrupted before Shiba could say anything. "Well of course they have. They've been training hard everyday. Of course they don't have the luxuries that you do, having all the equipment ready."  
"I guess I'll hand that to them." He shrugged. "Sit down. You can enjoy a luxurious breakfast at least."  
"Jeez, he's so cocky." Shiba whispered to Ryuzaki as they entered the dining room, taking their seats in the middle of the table. The Regulars moved to let the guests be seated as they went to get dressed to leave. "Ryuzaki-sensei!" Ryuzaki looked to the door to see Mizuka entering. "Mizuka, you're here?!"  
"Yeah." Mizuka smiled happily and took her seat beside Atobe. "I didn't know you would be coming here."  
"We came to pick Hyotei up for the match." Ryuzaki said as the servants placed their food down on the table.  
"Ryuzaki-sensei, who is that?" Shiba quietly asked as she gazed at Atobe and Mizuka. "She's beautiful."  
"That is Tezuka's sister."  
"Tezuka's sister?!" Shiba exclaimed and Mizuka looked over at them.  
"Mizuka, let's go." Atobe took her hand. "But I'm not done."  
"You can take it with you." He took her plate and pulled her with him out of the room.  
"How come she's here with the Hyotei team? Why didn't she go to Seigaku?"  
Ryuzaki laughed at the questions the young reporter was asking her. "You should ask her yourself."

"Wait, Atobe." Mizuka struggled to keep up with him. "What's wrong?"  
"I didn't think you would want to be bombarded with questions about Tezuka." He pulled with to her room and sat down by the table beside her.  
"Well...I guess so but I wouldn't mind."  
"Of course you wouldn't." Atobe smiled lightly as he watched her eat the cake. "How does it taste?"  
"It's a bit too sweet but it's good." She said as she ate. "Really? Let me try some." She thought he was going to grab the fork from her hand but he moved his hand to the back of her head and pulled her towards him, pressing his lips against hers and pushing his tongue into her mouth. "You're right. It is a bit too sweet." He chuckled softly, seeing her move her hand to her mouth. "We should get ready, we're leaving soon."

It didn't take long for them to get ready to leave with two travel buses going to the Seigaku training camp. They arrived at the cottage just as the Seigaku Regulars finished from their tennis biathlon. "You guys will now hold practice matches with Hyotei." Ryuzaki informed her team.  
"Hyotei?!" Momoshiro exclaimed and noticed the Hyotei Regulars standing in front of their cottage.  
"So you guys have been fooling around ever since Tezuka left, ahn?" Atobe coolly said and soon after that, his teammates started criticizing the living conditions Seigaku had to live throughout the week.  
"Why are you guys being so mean?" Mizuka asked Oshitari and was replied to by Mukahi. "Because we can't be nice to the enemy."  
"The ene-" She paused when they heard ribbit sounds coming from all around. Mukahi yelped and ducked when a frog jumped at him and it landed on Otori's face. "Frog!" Otori cried out and fell to the ground and was calmed by Shishido. "I can't believe they were actually able to train in a place like this." Oshitari commented, trying to avoid the leaps of the frogs.  
"Hoi! Mizuka-chan!" She turned to see the cheerful Kikumaru jump at her and hug her. She unintentionally shoved him and put him at arm's length. "K-Kikumaru! How are you?"  
"I'm good! I'm good!" He replied, unfazed by her sudden action.  
"Eiji! Don't jump out like that!" Oishi called, noticing Mizuka's reaction. "It's fine, Oishi!" Kikumaru put his arm around Mizuka's shoulders. "It's Mizu-chan! Don't you remember her?"  
Oishi facepalmed and was comforted by a hand on his shoulder by Fuji. "It should be fine. Atobe doesn't seem to mind." He gestured to Atobe who was calmly talking to Kabaji. "Yeah...I guess so.." Oishi sighed.  
"Now then Oishi, I'll leave the rest to you." Ryuzaki smirked, amused by the entertainment.  
"Right.." Oishi cleared his throat and started explaining the rules as Atobe snapped his fingers which told his butler and maids to bring out an umbrella, table, and chair for him. "Well then, let's start. If you lose to us here, you definitely won't be able to beat Rikkaidai."  
"That guy, who does he think he is?" Momoshiro grunted.  
"The King, obviously." Echizen said and was put in a headlock by his senpai before Oishi called them to pick the names of their opponents.

"You know, I don't mind if you hug another guy."  
Mizuka felt a hand around her waist and looked up to see Atobe smiling down at her. "I didn't mean to push him."  
He chuckled softly. "If you say so, _Mizu-chan._"  
"You _do_ mind!"  
He grinned and pulled her with him towards the chair as the first matches between Kikumaru versus Kabaji and Inui versus Hiyoshi began. "I wonder who my lucky opponent will be."  
"I thought you were playing against-" He covered her mouth and pulled her onto his lap as he sat down. "Don't ruin the surprise." He said and whispered in her ear. "Or would you prefer to reenact what we did on the bus." She shook her head vigorously. "I'm kidding." He removed his hand from her mouth and cupped her face. "There is no way I would do such a thing to you out here." Mizuka blushed as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

"Waahhh! Look at them!" Shiba took her camera and aimed it at Atobe and Mizuka. "Kawaiii!" She said, taking several pictures of them.  
"Ey, aren't you supposed to be taking pictures of tennis?" Osakada Tomoka dully asked.  
"I-It should be okay, Tomoka." Ryuzaki Sakuno weakly said.  
"Yeah, yeah. It's okay for Atobe-sama, alright."

"It looks like we have a paparazzi." Atobe mused, taking a glance over at the photographer. "Why don't we give her a great picture to take."  
"Wait, no!" Mizuka leaned back, away from him.  
"Why not? Are you ashamed of kissing me?"  
"N-No..that's not it.."  
"Then kiss me."  
Mizuka's face reddened as Atobe waited patiently, staring at her as she gripped the hem of her shirt. She slowly leaned closer to him, inching closer to his face, breathing the same air as him and she pressed her lips against his, hearing the clicks of Shiba taking more photos. She closed her eyes and pushed her tongue into his mouth to play with his as her hand moved to his shoulder, feeling his arms wrap around her tighter before they slowly pulled away. She slowly opened her eyes to see Atobe gazing affectionately at her. "Thank you."  
"Thank you?" She let out a breath.  
"For letting me know you're not ashamed of kissing me."  
She pressed her face into his neck and sighed. "I really like kissing you." Atobe chuckled softly hearing her faint words and laced his fingers with games commenced with the disappointing loss of Kabaji and a tie for Hiyoshi. By the time the matches between Shishido versus Oishi and Oshitari versus Fuji ended, Atobe became aware of Mizuka's second deep breath by his neck. On her third breath out, she let out a soft sound. "Mizuka."  
"Hmm?"  
"You're breathing rather hard. Is there something wrong?"  
"No...You just..smell really good."  
Atobe smiled and tilted his head onto hers. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath of his scent but unintentionally kissed his neck and opened her eyes, pulling away and blushing. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. "If I could touch you right now.." He huskily said.

Echizen stared at the two for a couple of seconds and blinked a few of times. "What is it, Echizen? Something you find interesting?" He turned to see Inui writing in his notebook. "Uh...no.."  
"Right." Inui continued writing, having a gleam shine across his glasses. Echizen sighed and looked on to see the fifth and sixth matches start between Otori versus Kawamura and Mukahi versus Momoshiro.  
Atobe felt Mizuka's hand tighten slightly around his and then loosen when Otori yelled from the impact of Kawamura's new move, the Dash Hadokyuu. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze, smoothing his thumb over hers before Oishi called for Kaido to play against Jirou and him to play against Echizen. "It's time for me to play." He softly told her and she slowly got up. He put his jersey around her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, breathing in the scent of her hair. "Good luck." She smiled brightly up at him and he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers as a way of thanks before grabbing his racquet from his butler while she went off to join the others to watch the last two matches.  
"Hey, you're Tezuka's sister right? Tezuka Mizuka?"  
Mizuka who stood with Inui, Fuji, and Momoshiro looked down from Atobe's match to see the girl with brown hair tied up in two ponytails looking up at her with a more quiet girl beside her with two long braids. She spotted the mole beneath the first one's right eye and smiled, thinking of the same one Atobe has. "Yes, who might you two be?"  
"I'm Osakada Tomoka-desu and this is Ryuzaki Sakuno." Tomoka smiled back at the kindness Mizuka displayed. "Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure, go ahead."  
"How can you go out with such a guy like that?" Tomoka asked, pointing at Atobe. Mizuka was surprised by her question and she continued while Sakuno protested beside her. "He's so arrogant and cocky and has such a bad personality. He's always looking down on other people, talking down on them. I don't understand how you can like somebody like that." Mizuka blinked a couple times and looked at Atobe. "Well..you see, no matter what he is like, my feelings won't change about him because it is what he is that makes me like him. " She looked back at the two to see them looking at her with respect in their eyes. "You're so cool, Mizuka!" Tomoka screamed out and hugged her as Sakuno stared at her, lost in her thoughts. "Can I ask you more questions?"  
Mizuka laughed and nodded. "What made you attracted to him?" Again Mizuka turned her gaze back to Atobe. "He is...very good looking, there isn't another person like him and.." She blushed. Atobe, hearing her words, did a fast serve and finished the point with the Rondo Towards Destruction, distracting Tomoka and Sakuno from Mizuka's unfinished answer, but not Inui who chuckled and wrote in his notebook, Fuji who smiled even more, and Momoshiro who snickered.

Atobe looked at Mizuka who came towards him when he dropped the glass drink he tried to hold after finishing his match with a tie with Echizen. "Is your wrist okay?"  
"It's fine." He took her hand and pulled her towards him for a kiss. "So, how good looking am I?"  
"Go away." She blushed, trying to move away from him but he pulled her against him. "You didn't answer me."  
"Very!"  
He laughed and embraced her in his arms and she hid her face in his chest. "Why did you drag the game out for so long? You could have won."  
"Because that wouldn't be the point, Mizuka." He sighed and kissed her on the head as the Hyotei Regulars said their farewells to Seigaku and started to go on the travel bus. It was a long ride back to Atobe's mansion after dropping everybody off.

"Master Keigo, you have a phone call." Sebastian informed Atobe when they were washing up after eating dinner. He gave Mizuka a kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth and tasting the minty freshness of the toothpaste. "Mmm..Atobe..I'm brushing my teeth!"  
"I still want to kiss you."  
"You have a phone call!" Mizuka covered her mouth when he tried to kiss her again. Atobe grinned and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the bathroom. She finished washing up and went out to hear him still talking. He turned when he heard her approach him and handed the phone to her. "Hello?"  
"Mizuka, it's me."  
"Nisan!" She brightened up, hearing the voice of her brother. "How are you?"  
Atobe smiled and went back to the bathroom to finish washing up. When he came back out, she was lying on the bed looking tired. "Are you that tired already?" He asked. "You didn't even play a game."  
Mizuka smiled lightly and closed her eyes when he climbed into bed with her. She opened her eyes when she felt his lips brush against hers. "You've had a long week."  
"Mmhmm." He kissed her, making his kisses down to her neck and lifting the hem of her shirt. It surprised her when he bent over and blew on her stomach. She jerked and squealed, looking at him with surprise. "What are you doing?!" He couldn't get enough from the first one so he had to blow on her stomach again, making her do another cute squeal. "Stop it!" She laughed. "I'm not a baby!"  
"You're _my_ baby." He grinned and pressed his lips against hers. She was less responsive than he would have liked her to be and he pulled away. "What's wrong?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"What's with the long face?"  
She sighed and gazed into his eyes. "I'm going to miss you."  
He looked at her with confusion. "Why?"  
"Because you won't be with me anymore."  
Atobe froze, stunned by her words before he managed to get a word out. "What?" She blinked a couple times at the tone of his voice and replied. "I guess I won't really miss you that much since I'll see you at school but I'll still miss you."  
"What the heck are you saying?" He had anger in his voice now, after hearing her say that.  
"What are you talking about? I'm going back home since we're going back to school on Monday."  
He stared at her, letting the words register in his head before lying down on his pillow, putting the back of his hand over his eyes and taking a deep breath. "You..really need to work on your wording." Now it was Mizuka's turn to be confused. "Why? What's wrong?"  
"I thought you were breaking up with me."  
Her mouth slightly parted from shock. "But I wouldn't.."  
Atobe stayed silent, calming down and concentrating on breathing in and out before he felt her move on top of him. She gently tugged his hand from his eyes to see him staring at her intently and she knew her words affected him badly. "I really like you, Atobe." She felt her face heat up from blushing and rested the side of her head on his chest. "You're too special to me to let go." She quietly added and felt her face flush up even more. He slowly sat up and moved his hands to her face, gently pushing her back and she looked at him to see him smiling at her. "Say that again."  
"No..."  
"Just one more time?" He slightly pouted and she blushed again and repeated herself. "I really like you. You're too special to me to let go." His smile turned into a grin when her blush hardened and she hugged him, resting her cheek on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. _"Oh, Mizuka."_


End file.
